Counteracting in Vitro Toxicity of the Ionophoric Mycotoxin Beauvericin-Synthetic Receptors to the Rescue

J Org Chem. 2019 Aug 16;84(16):10422-10435. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.9b01665. Epub 2019 Aug 8.

Abstract

Beauvericin (BEA) and enniatins are toxic ionophoric cyclodepsipeptides that mainly occur in grains. As such, their presence in food commodities poses a concern for public health. To date, despite recent European Food Safety Authority emphasis on the need for more data to evaluate long-term toxicity effects, no suitable affinity reagents are available to detect the presence of BEA and derivatives in food samples. We here report on the synthesis of a small library of artificial receptors with varying cavity sizes and different hydrophobic building blocks. Immobilization of one of the receptors on solid support resulted in a strong retention of beauvericin, thus revealing promising properties as solid-phase extraction material for sample pretreatment. Furthermore, treatment of HepG2 cells with the most promising receptor markedly reduced beauvericin-induced cytotoxicity, hinting toward the possibility of using synthetic receptors as antidotes against ionophoric toxins.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Depsipeptides / chemistry
  • Depsipeptides / isolation & purification
  • Depsipeptides / pharmacology*
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Humans
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Receptors, Artificial / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Receptors, Artificial / chemical synthesis
  • Receptors, Artificial / chemistry
  • Solid Phase Extraction

Substances

  • Depsipeptides
  • Receptors, Artificial
  • beauvericin