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Review
. 2024 Jan 28;22(2):70.
doi: 10.3390/md22020070.

Cytotoxic Compounds from Marine Fungi: Sources, Structures, and Bioactivity

Yukang Gao  1 , Jianjian Wang  1 , Pornphimon Meesakul  2 , Jiamin Zhou  1 , Jinyan Liu  1 , Shuo Liu  1 , Cong Wang  1 , Shugeng Cao  2
Affiliations
Review

Cytotoxic Compounds from Marine Fungi: Sources, Structures, and Bioactivity

Yukang Gao et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

Marine fungi, such as species from the Penicillium and Aspergillus genera, are prolific producers of a diversity of natural products with cytotoxic properties. These fungi have been successfully isolated and identified from various marine sources, including sponges, coral, algae, mangroves, sediment, and seawater. The cytotoxic compounds derived from marine fungi can be categorized into five distinct classes: polyketides, peptides, terpenoids and sterols, hybrids, and other miscellaneous compounds. Notably, the pre-eminent group among these compounds comprises polyketides, accounting for 307 out of 642 identified compounds. Particularly, within this collection, 23 out of the 642 compounds exhibit remarkable cytotoxic potency, with IC50 values measured at the nanomolar (nM) or nanogram per milliliter (ng/mL) levels. This review elucidates the originating fungal strains, the sources of isolation, chemical structures, and the noteworthy antitumor activity of the 642 novel natural products isolated from marine fungi. The scope of this review encompasses the period from 1991 to 2023.

Keywords: antitumor activity; chemical structures; marine fungi; marine natural products.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structures of compounds 1–29.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Structures of compounds 30–59.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Structures of compounds 60–88.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Structures of compounds 89–105.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Structures of compounds 106–135.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Structures of compounds 136–165.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Structures of compounds 166–193.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Structures of compounds 194–226.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Structures of compounds 227–246.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Structures of compounds 247–276.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Structures of compounds 277–292.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Structures of compounds 293–307.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Structures of compounds 308–353.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Structures of compounds 354–377.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Structures of compounds 378–402.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Structures of compounds 403–437.
Figure 17
Figure 17
Structures of compounds 438–456.
Figure 18
Figure 18
Structures of compounds 457–475.
Figure 19
Figure 19
Structures of compounds 476–498.
Figure 20
Figure 20
Structures of compounds 499–518.
Figure 21
Figure 21
Structures of compounds 519–540.
Figure 22
Figure 22
Structures of compounds 541–575.
Figure 23
Figure 23
Structures of compounds 576–600.
Figure 24
Figure 24
Structures of compounds 601–618.
Figure 25
Figure 25
Structures of compounds 619–626.
Figure 26
Figure 26
Structures of compounds 627–642.
Figure 27
Figure 27
Numbers of antitumor compounds isolated from marine fungi each year (1991–2023).
Figure 28
Figure 28
Journals that reported antitumor compounds and numbers of papers published (1991–2023).
Figure 29
Figure 29
Structural classes of antitumor compounds from marine fungi (1991–2023).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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