Secondary Metabolites from the Marine-Derived Fungus Dichotomomyces sp. L-8 and Their Cytotoxic Activity

Abstract

Bioassay-guided isolation of the secondary metabolites from the fungus Dichotomomyces sp. L-8 associated with the soft coral Lobophytum crassum led to the discovery of two new compounds, dichotones A and B (1 and 2), together with four known compounds including dichotocejpin C (3), bis-N-norgliovictin (4), bassiatin (5) and (3R,6R)-bassiatin (6). The structures of these compounds were determined by 1D, 2D NMR and mass spectrometry. (3R,6R)-bassiatin (6) displayed significant cytotoxic activities against the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-435 and the human lung cancer cell line Calu3 with IC₅₀ values of 7.34 ± 0.20 and 14.54 ± 0.01 μM, respectively, while bassiatin (5), the diastereomer of compound 6, was not cytotoxic.

Keywords: Dichotomomyces sp.; cytotoxic activity; secondary metabolites; structure elucidation.