Six julichrome derivatives including a new monomeric julichrome named as julichrome Q10 (1), and previous reported julichrome Q6 (2), julichrome Q6.6 (4), julichrome Q3.5 (5), julichrome Q5.6 (6), julichrome Q2.3 (7), along with a diketopiperazine gliotoxin (3) were isolated from a soil derived strain Streptomyces sp. The structures of these compounds were identified by HR-ESI-MS, UV, IR and NMR methods. The isolated compounds were tested for their in vitro cytotoxicity against human hepatocarcinoma HepG-2 and SMMC-7721 cell lines, human breast cancer MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines, and human normal heptical LO2 cell line. Gliotoxin (3) showed the most cytotoxic activity against the tested tumor cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 0.11 to 1.45 μM. Julichrome Q6.6 (4) displayed selective cytotoxic activity against SMMC-7721, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.
Keywords: Streptomyces; cytotoxic activity; gliotoxin; julichrome.