The fungal genus Pyrenochaetopsis is commonly found in soil, terrestrial, and marine environments, however, has received little attention as a source of bioactive secondary metabolites so far. In a recent work, we reported the isolation and characterization of three new anticancer decalinoyltetramic acid derivatives, pyrenosetins A-C, from the Baltic Fucus vesiculosus-derived endophytic fungus Pyrenochaetopsis sp. FVE-001. Herein we report a new pentacyclic decalinoylspirotetramic acid derivative, pyrenosetin D (1), along with two known decalin derivatives wakodecalines A (2) and B (3) from another endophytic strain Pyrenochaetopsis FVE-087 isolated from the same seaweed and showed anticancer activity in initial screenings. The chemical structures of the purified compounds were elucidated by comprehensive analysis of HR-ESIMS, FT-IR, [a]D, 1D and 2D NMR data coupled with DFT calculations of NMR parameters and optical rotation. Compounds 1-3 were evaluated for their anticancer and toxic potentials against the human malignant melanoma cell line (A-375) and the non-cancerous keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT). Pyrenosetin D (1) showed toxicity towards both A-375 and HaCaT cells with IC50 values of 77.5 and 39.3 μM, respectively, while 2 and 3 were inactive. This is the third chemical study performed on the fungal genus Pyrenochaetopsis and the first report of a pentacyclic decalin ring system from the fungal genus Pyrenochaetopsis.
Keywords: Fucus vesiculosus; Pyrenochaetopsis; anticancer; decalinoyltetramic acid; marine fungus; pyrenosetin.