New cytochalasins from medicinal macrofungus Crodyceps taii and their inhibitory activities against human cancer cells

Three new cytochalasins (1–3) together with two known cytochalasin analogues (4 and 5) were isolated from the chloroform fraction of ethanolic extract of a medicinal macrofungus Cordyceps taii. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, including HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR experiments. The cytotoxicities of Compounds 1–5 were investigated by the sulforhodamine B (SRB) method in vitro against human highly metastatic lung cancer cell 95-D, human lung cancer cell line A-549 and normal hepatocyte HL-7702. The results revealed that Compounds 4 and 5 showed potent antitumor activities against human lung cancer cell 95-D with IC50 value of 3.67 and 4.04 μM, respectively. In comparison with cisplatin, the first-line chemotherapy drug, they had little or no cytotoxicity on normal cells, but showed stronger cytotoxic effects on cancer cells 95-D.

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