Ceriponols A-K, tremulane sesquitepenes from Ceriporia lacerate HS-ZJUT-C13A, a fungal endophyte of Huperzia serrata.

Tremulane sesquiterpenes ceriponols A-K, together with three known ones tremulenediol A, 11,12-dihydroxy-1-tremulen-5-one and conocenol B, were isolated from the cultures of Ceriporia lacerate, a fungal endophyte residing in the stems of the medicinal plant Huperzia serrata. Among these isolates, ceriponol B possessed an unprecedent 12-nortremulane skeleton. The structures of all isolates were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including MS and NMR (1D and 2D) spectroscopic techniques. The cytotoxic activities of ceriponols A-K were evaluated against three human tumor cell lines (HeLa, HepG2, and SGC 7901). Ceriponols F and K exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against all the tested human cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 32.3 ± 0.4 to 173.2 ± 1.5 μM, while ceriponol G showed slightly better cytotoxicity against a HeLa cell line.