Unsaturated fatty acid, Nonacosenoic acid isolated from an endophyte Chaetomium nigricolor inhabiting the stem of Catharanthus roseus and its bioactivity

• Published in: Fungal biology 2024-06, Vol.128 (4), p.1876-1884
• Main Authors: Dhayanithy, Geethanjali, Mukherjee, Somnath, Subban, Kamalraj, Radhakrishnan, Subathra, Chelliah, Jayabaskaran
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Catharanthus roseus; Cell Line; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; Chaetomium - chemistry; Chaetomium nigricolor; Cytotoxic compound; Endophyte; Endophytes - chemistry; Endophytes - isolation & purification; Endophytes - metabolism; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated - pharmacology; Humans; Nonacosenoic acid; Plant Stems - chemistry; Plant Stems - microbiology; Reactive Oxygen Species - metabolism; Structure elucidation
• ISSN: 1878-6146; 1878-6162
• DOI: 10.1016/j.funbio.2024.05.008

The endophytic fungus Chaetomium nigricolor culture filtrate's hexane extract was used to identify a cytotoxic very long-chain fatty acid. Based on multiple spectroscopic investigations, the structure of the compound was predicted to be an unsaturated fatty acid, Nonacosenoic acid (NA). Using the MTT assay, the compound's cytotoxic potential was evaluated against MCF-7, A-431, U-251, and HEK-293 T cells. The compound was moderately cytotoxic to breast carcinoma cell line, MCF-7 cells and negligibly cytotoxic to non-cancerous cell line HEK-293 T cells. The compound exhibited mild cytotoxic activity against A-431 and U-251 cells. The compound also induced ROS generation and mitochondrial depolarization in MCF-7 cells when assessed via the NBT and JC-1 assays, respectively. This is the first report on the production of nonacosenoic acid from the endophytic fungus Chaetomium nigricolor and the assessment of its bioactivity. The isolation, structure elucidation and cytotoxic potential of a fungal fatty acid, Nonacosenoic acid has been reported.