Phenanthroindolizidine Alkaloids Isolated from as Potent Inhibitors of Inflammation, Spheroid Growth, and Invasion of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), representing the most aggressive form of breast cancer with currently no targeted therapy available, is characterized by an inflammatory and hypoxic tumor microenvironment. To date, a broad spectrum of anti-tumor activities has been reported for phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids (PAs), however, their mode of action in TNBC remains elusive. Thus, we investigated six naturally occurring PAs extracted from the plant : -methyltylophorinidine () and its five derivatives tylophorinidine (), tylophoridicine E (), 2-demethoxytylophorine (), tylophoridicine D (), and anhydrodehydrotylophorinidine ().

Polyketides from the marine-derived fungus Aspergillus falconensis: In silico and in vitro cytotoxicity studies.

Fermentation of the marine-derived fungus Aspergillus falconensis, isolated from sediment collected from the Red Sea, Egypt on solid rice medium containing 3.5% NaCl yielded a new dibenzoxepin derivative (1) and a new natural isocoumarin (2) along with six known compounds (3-8). Changes in the metabolic profile of the fungus were induced by replacing NaCl with 3.

Pseudopterosin and -Methyltylophorinidine Suppress Cell Growth in a 3D Spheroid Co-Culture Model of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.

Current therapies for treating pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are largely ineffective, with the desmoplastic environment established within these tumors being considered a central issue. We established a 3D spheroid co-culture in vitro model using a PDAC cell line (either PANC-1 or Capan-2), combined with stellate cells freshly isolated from pancreatic tumors (PSC) or hepatic lesions (HSC), and human type I collagen to analyze the efficiency of the chemotherapeutic gemcitabine (GEM) as well as two novel drug candidates derived from natural products: pseudopterosin (PsA-D) and -methyltylophorinidine (TYLO). Traditional 2D in vitro testing of these agents for cytotoxicity on PANC-1 demonstrated IC values of 4.

Azaphilones from the Red Sea Fungus .

The marine-derived fungus , isolated from sediment collected from the Canyon at Dahab, Red Sea, yielded two new chlorinated azaphilones, falconensins O and P ( and ) in addition to four known azaphilone derivatives (-) following fermentation of the fungus on solid rice medium containing 3.5% NaCl. Replacing NaCl with 3.

Didymellanosine, a new decahydrofluorene analogue, and ascolactone C from sp. IEA-3B.1, an endophyte of .

Didymellanosine (1), the first analogue of the decahydrofluorene-class of natural products bearing a 13-membered macrocyclic alkaloid conjugated with adenosine, and a new benzolactone derivative, ascolactone C (4) along with eight known compounds (2, 3, 5-10), were isolated from a solid rice fermentation of the endophytic fungus sp. IEA-3B.1 derived from the host plant .