Deacetyl-mycoepoxydiene, isolated from plant endophytic fungi Phomosis sp. demonstrates anti-microtubule activity in MCF-7 cells

Deacetyl-mycoepoxydiene (DM), a novel secondary metabolite produced by the plant endophytic fungi Phomosis sp., induced the reorganization of cytoskeleton in actively growing MCF-7 cells by promoting polymerization of tubulin. DM could induce cell cycle arrest at G2/M in MCF-7 cells. Additionally, DM-induced apoptosis was characterized with up-regulating caspase-3, Bax, caspase-9, parp, and p21 while down-regulating Bcl-2 activation. DM conferred dose- and time-dependent inhibitory effects upon cell proliferation of MCF-7 cells both in cultured cells and nude mice with human breast carcinoma xenografts. The results obtained from these in vitro and in vivo models provide new data revealing the potential for DM as a novel microtubule inhibitor.