Regio- and stereo-selective hydroxylations of ingenane diterpenoids by Mortierella ramanniana and Gibberella fujikuroi

The regio- and stereo-selective hydroxylations of two ingenane diterpenoids, 20-deoxyingenol (1) and 13-oxyingenol dodecanoat (2), by the filamentous fungi Mortierella ramanniana and Gibberella fujikuroi were investigated in the present study. Four undescribed metabolites (3-6) of substrate 1 and two undescribed metabolites (7 and 8) of substrate 2 were isolated. All the metabolites were identified as hydroxylated ingenane derivatives by extensive NMR and HR-ESI-MS data analyses. All the bio-transformed compounds and the substrates were evaluated for their cytotoxicities against three human cancer cell lines, including human colon cancer Caco-2, breast cancer MCF-7, and adriamycin (ADM)-resistant MCF-7/ADM cell lines. All ingenane alco-hols (1, and 3-6) displayed no significant cytotoxic activities. The substrate 13-oxyingenol dodecanoat (2) showed moderate cytotoxicity with IC50 values being 35.595.37 molL-1 (Caco-2), 24.044.70 molL-1 (MCF-7), and 22.245.19 molL-1 (MCF-7/ADM). However, metabolites 7 and 8 displayed no significant cytotoxicity. These results indicated that the hydroxylation at the C-13 aliphatic acid ester of substrate 2 can significantly reduce the cytotoxic activity.