Sulfoxanthicillin from the deep-sea derived Penicillium sp. SCSIO sof101: an antimicrobial compound against Gram-positive and -negative pathogens

• Published in: Journal of antibiotics Vol. 76; no. 3; pp. 113 - 120
• Main Authors: Yang, Jiafan, Song, Yongxiang, Zhou, Zhenbin, Huang, Yun, Wang, Songtao, Yuan, Jie, Wong, Nai-Kei, Yan, Yan, Ju, Jianhua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo Springer Japan 01.03.2023; Springer Nature; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/326/22/1290; 631/92/349; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Infective Agents - chemistry; Antibacterial activity; Antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteriology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Bioorganic Chemistry; Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; Cell Line, Tumor; Cytotoxicity; Deep sea; Deep sea environments; Fungi; Humans; Immunology; Lead compounds; Life Sciences; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Medicinal Chemistry; Microbiology; Molecular Structure; Natural products; Organic Chemistry; Pathogens; Penicillium; Penicillium - chemistry; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; Science & Technology; Toxicity; Tumor cell lines; XANTHOCILLIN; ESKAPE
• ISSN: 0021-8820; 1881-1469; 1881-1469
• DOI: 10.1038/s41429-022-00593-9

Natural products along with their analogs have been intensively explored for their antimicrobial potential against ‘ESKAPE’ pathogens. Herein, we report a new natural product with strong antibacterial activity, sulfoxanthocillin ( 1 ), along with its decomposed product peniformamide ( 2 ), and the known compound xanthocillin X ( 3 ) from the deep-sea derived Penicillium sp. SCSIO sof101. The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis. Compound 1 showed significant activity against series pathogens with MIC values ranging 0.06–8.0 μg mL −1 . As an artificial unnatural product during the isolation process, compound 2 had lower antimicrobial activity than that of compound 1 , which could be attributed to a change in structural modification from an isonitrile group in compound 1 to a formamide group in compound 2 . In terms of cytotoxicity, 1 showed relatively low cytotoxicity against human tumor cell lines compared with xanthocillin X ( 3 ), suggesting that the sulfate group present in 1 should be a determinant of cytotoxic activities. Overall, sulfoxanthocillin ( 1 ) merits further attention as a potential lead compound for anti-infective interventions against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial pathogens.