Marine-derived fungi are known to be a prolific source of biologically active natural products which are useful for drug discovery. Nitrobenzoyl sesquiterpenoids are rare in natural sources, with only four reported examples from marine-derived Aspergillus fungi.

　　Now, Prof. LIU Yonghong’s group in SCSIO reported another new cytotoxic and antiviral nitrobenzoyl sesquiterpenoid from the marine-derived fungus Aspergillus ochraceus Jcma1F17 in MedChemComm (2014, 6, 701–705) as a Cover Paper.

    A new nitrobenzoyl sesquiterpenoid, 6b,9a-dihydroxy-14-p- nitrobenzoylcinnamolide, and a known analogue, insulicolide A, were isolated from extracts of the culture of marine-derived fungus Aspergillus ochraceus Jcma1F17. Their structures were determined by various spectroscopic analyses including NMR, MS, CD, and optical rotation. This is the first report of nitrobenzoyl sesquiterpenoids from A. ochraceus. In addition, researchers showed the rare intuitive pictures for the natural appearance of the mature marine-derived Aspergillus fungal strain.

　  Both nitrobenzoyl sesquiterpenoids displayed significant cytotoxicities against 10 cancer cell lines, and the new one also showed antiviral activities against H3N2 and EV71. Therefore, marine-derived nitrobenzoyl sesquiterpenoids deserve to capture future attentions from both chemists and pharmacists due to their significant pharmaceutical potential.

　　The work was performed by Dr. ZHOU Xuefeng, Dr. LIN Xiuping in Liu’s group. And this work was supported by grants from the 863, 973 and NSFC programs.

　　（The cover of MedChemComm, June, 2014. The picture in the cover descibe the natural appearances of the mature marine-derived Aspergillus fungal strain and the structure of the active constituents ，Image by SCSIO)