Monascin and monascinol, azaphilonoid pigments from AM1: and targeting of the angiogenic VEGFR2 kinase.

The fungus, is one of the most productive sources of anticancer bioactive compounds namely those of pigment nature. During our investigation of the produced bioactive metabolites by the terrestrial AM1 isolated from Egyptian poultry feather waste, two main azaphilonoid pigments, monascin () and monascinol () were obtained as major products; their structures were identified by 1D (H&C) and 2D (H-H COSY, HMBC) NMR and HRESI-MS spectroscopic data. Biologically, cytotoxic activities of these compounds were broadly studied compared with the fungal extract. To predict the biological target for the presumed antitumor activity, an study was run toward three proteins, topoisomerase II, topoisomerase II, and VEGFR2 kinase. Monascinol () was expected to be moderately active against VEGFR2 kinase without any anticipated inhibition toward topo II isoforms. The study confirmed the docked investigation consistently and introduced monascinol () rather than its counterpart () as a potent inhibitor to the tested VEGFR2 kinase. Taxonomically, the fungus was identified using morphological and genetic assessments.