Secondary Metabolites and Their Biological Activity from Aspergillus aculeatus KKU-CT2.

The bioactive compounds of the fungus Aspergillus aculeatus strain KKU-CT2, have been studied. The crude extracts from this fungus showed good antimicrobial activity against human pathogens, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and yeast-like fungi. Its chemical components were isolated and purified by chromatographic methods. The structures of the secondary metabolites were elucidated by spectroscopic methods (IR, 1H, and 13C NMR). They were identified as ergosterol peroxide (1), secalonic acid D (2), secalonic acid F (3), variecolin (4), variecolactone (5), and ergosterol (6). Compounds 1 and 4-6 are reported for the first time as fungal metabolites from this species. Compound 1 displayed inhibitory effects on HSV-1 with an IC50 of 11.01 μg/ml. Compounds 3, 4, and 6 exhibited antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum with IC50 of 1.03, 1.47, and 5.31 µg/ml, respectively. Additionally, all compounds from A. aculeatus KKU-CT2 showed unprecedented anticancer activities against human epidermoid carcinoma in the mouth (KB) (compounds 1-6), human breast cancer (MCF-7) (compounds 2, 4, and 5), and human lung cancer cells (NCI-H187) (compounds 1-4 and 6). These results suggest that secondary metabolites from A. aculeatus KKU-CT2 might be interesting for further derivatization, targeting diseases such as cancer.