Cytochalasans with Inhibitory Activity against NPC1L1 from the Endophytic Fungus Chaetomium nigricolor F5

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolic profiling of the endophytic fungus Chaetomium nigricolor F5 guided the isolation of five novel cytochalasans, chamisides B-F (1-5), and two known ones, chaetoconvosins C and D (6 and 7). Their structures including stereochemistry were unambiguously determined by MS, nuclear magnetic resonance, and single crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. Compounds 1-3 share a new 5/6/5/5/7 fused pentacyclic skeleton in cytochalasans and are appropriately proposed to be the key biosynthetic precursors of co-isolated cytochalasans with a 6/6/5/ 7/5, 6/6/5/5/7, or 6/6/5 ring system. Remarkably, compound 5 with a relatively flexible side chain showed promising inhibition activity against the cholesterol transporter protein Niemann-Pick C1-like 1 (NPC1L1), expanding the function of cytochalasans.

Automated summary

Metabolic profiling of the fungus Chaetomium nigricolor F5 led to the discovery of five new cytochalasans, as well as two known compounds. Compound 5 showed promising inhibition activity against the cholesterol transporter NPC1L1, expanding the function of cytochalasans.