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Podostroma cornu-damae, one of the lethal toxic mushrooms, is known to contain macrocyclic trichothecene mycotoxins exhibiting potent cytotoxic effects, attracting attention as an important research subject for scientists interested in natural product chemistry and toxicity research. To investigate the mycotoxins from the toxic mushroom P. cornu-damae and evaluate their cytotoxic activities, the fungus was large-cultured on solid plates and successively extracted to acquire a crude methanol (MeOH) extract. After performing successive separation and purification processes, a total of eight macrocyclic trichothecenes were isolated from the MeOH extract of plate cultures of P. cornu-damae using the liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS)-guided isolation technique. Extensive interpretation of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic and high-resolution (HR)-electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS data allowed for the structural identification of all isolated macrocyclic trichothecenes, including satratoxin I (1), satratoxin H (2), roridin E (3), miophytocen D (4), roridin L-2 (5), trichoverritone (6), 12′-episatratoxin H (7), and roridin F (8). We conducted a cytotoxicity evaluation of compounds 1–8 against 4T1 breast cancer cells and fibroblast cell lines (L929 cells) using the Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) cell viability assay to validate their cytotoxic potential. Our results indicated that compounds 1–6 lack anti-cancer effects on 4T1 cells and have minimal impact on the viability of the fibroblast cell line, L929 cells. In contrast, compounds 7 and 8 exhibited no cytotoxicity in normal cells (L929) and demonstrated specific cytotoxicity in breast cancer cell lines. Notably, the cytotoxic effects of compounds 7 and 8 in 4T1 cells were significantly stronger than those observed with free doxorubicin. These findings suggest that compounds 7 and 8 may possess targeted anti-cancer effects, specifically against breast cancer cells, emphasizing their efficient and selective toxicity towards breast cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostate cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. For the development of potential anti-prostate cancer agents, a series of novel arylpiperazine derivatives containing the saccharin moiety based on previous studies was designed, synthesized, and evaluated in prostate (PC-3, LNCaP, and DU145) cancer cell lines for their anticancer activities. The majority of the compounds exhibited excellent selective activity for the tested cancer cells. Compounds 4 and 12 exhibited strong cytotoxic activities against DU145 cells (half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) < 2 μM). The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of these arylpiperazine derivatives was also discussed based on the obtained experimental data. This work provides a potential lead compound for anticancer agent development focusing on prostate cancer therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel arylpiperazine derivatives was synthesized. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of all synthesized compounds against three human prostate cancer cell lines (PC-3, LNCaP, and DU145) were evaluated by a CCK-8 assay. Compounds 9 and 15 exhibited strong cytotoxic activities against LNCaP cells (IC50 < 5 μM), and compound 8 (IC50 = 8.25 μM) possessed the most potent activity against DU145 cells. However, these compounds also exhibited cytotoxicity towards human epithelial prostate normal cells RWPE-1. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of these arylpiperazine derivatives was also discussed based on the obtained experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in the development of skeletal muscle. Here, a comparative analysis of four skeletal muscle transcriptomes of cattle, rat, goat, and pig showed that miR-24-3p may conservatively regulate muscle development. There is a large proportion of the target genes of miR-24-3p shared by cattle, rat, goat, and pig. GO (Gene ontology) and KEGG (A Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) enrichment analysis showed that these genes are enriched in multiple cell functions and signal pathways that are closely related to muscle development. In rat and cattle, a double luciferase test showed that three shared target genes, WNT4 (Wnt Family Member 4), CAMK2B (Calcium/Calmodulin Dependent Protein Kinase II Beta), TCF7 (Transcription Factor 7) were targeted by mmu-miR-24-3p and bta-miR-24-3p. The three shared target genes (WNT4, CAMK2B, and TCF7) were all targets in the Wnt signaling pathway, which plays an important role in muscle proliferation in rat and cattle. The shared target gene (CAMK2B) rat was increased significantly after the inhibition of miR-24-3p in rat and cattle. This study will be a good foundation by which to improve our understanding of the functions of miRNAs in the regulation of muscle development. Skeletal muscle plays an important role in the growth and development of meat animals. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) can participate in the regulation of muscle development-related functions; however, there have been few reports on whether there are related miRNAs that conservatively regulate muscle development among different species. In this study, the miRNA transcriptome sequencing data of the muscle tissue of cattle, rat, goat, and pig showed that miR-24-3p may conservatively regulate muscle development in these species. Furthermore, mmu-miR-24-3p can positively regulate C2C12 cell proliferation and apoptosis by regulating key proliferation and apoptosis genes in muscle development, which was verified by CCK-8 and RT-qPCR. Bta-miR-24-3p can also positively regulate the proliferation and apoptosis of bovine muscle primary cells by regulating key proliferation and apoptosis genes in the process of muscle development, as verified by CCK-8 and RT-qPCR. The target genes of miR-24-3p in cattle, rat, goat, and pig, which include a large proportion of target genes shared among the four species, are enriched in multiple cell functions and signal pathways that are closely related to muscle development, as revealed by GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. A double luciferase test showed that the shared target genes WNT4, CAMK2B, and TCF7 were targeted by mmu-miR-24-3p in rat and bta-miR-24-3p in cattle. These three shared target genes WNT4, CAMK2B, and TCF7 are involved in the Wnt signaling pathway, which showed that miR-24-3p plays an important role in rat and cattle. The shared target gene (CAMK2B) in rat and cattle increased significantly after the inhibition of miR-24-3p by RT-qPCR. The findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the role of miR-24-3p in the regulation of muscle development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first total synthesis of marine natural product, (−)-majusculoic acid (1) and its seven analogs (9–15), was accomplished in three to ten steps with a yield of 3% to 28%. The strategy featured the application of the conformational controlled establishment of the trans-cyclopropane and stereochemical controlled bromo-olefination or olefination by Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons (HWE) reaction. The potential anti-inflammatory activity of the eight compounds (1 and 9–15) was evaluated by determining the nitric oxide (NO) production in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse macrophages RAW264.7. (−)-Majusculoic acid (1), methyl majusculoate (9), and (1R,2R)-2-((3E,5Z)-6-bromonona-3,5-dien-1-yl)cyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (12) showed significant effect with inhibition rates of 33.68%, 35.75%, and 43.01%, respectively. Moreover, they did not show cytotoxicity against RAW264.7 cells, indicating that they might be potential anti-inflammatory agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first total synthesis of marine natural product, (-)-majusculoic acid ( 1 ) and its seven analogs ( 9 - 15 ), was accomplished in three to ten steps with a yield of 3% to 28%. The strategy featured the application of the conformational controlled establishment of the trans -cyclopropane and stereochemical controlled bromo-olefination or olefination by Horner-Wadsworth-Emmons (HWE) reaction. The potential anti-inflammatory activity of the eight compounds ( 1 and 9 - 15 ) was evaluated by determining the nitric oxide (NO) production in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse macrophages RAW264.7. (-)-Majusculoic acid ( 1 ), methyl majusculoate ( 9 ), and (1 R ,2 R )-2-((3 E ,5 Z )-6-bromonona-3,5-dien-1-yl)cyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid ( 12 ) showed significant effect with inhibition rates of 33.68%, 35.75%, and 43.01%, respectively. Moreover, they did not show cytotoxicity against RAW264.7 cells, indicating that they might be potential anti-inflammatory agents.

Prostate cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. For the development of potential anti-prostate cancer agents, a series of novel arylpiperazine derivatives containing the saccharin moiety based on previous studies was designed, synthesized, and evaluated in prostate (PC-3, LNCaP, and DU145) cancer cell lines for their anticancer activities. The majority of the compounds exhibited excellent selective activity for the tested cancer cells. Compounds 4 and 12 exhibited strong cytotoxic activities against DU145 cells (half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) < 2 μM). The structure-activity relationship (SAR) of these arylpiperazine derivatives was also discussed based on the obtained experimental data. This work provides a potential lead compound for anticancer agent development focusing on prostate cancer therapy., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.