Under the guidance of LC-MS/MS-based molecular networking, seven new verrucosidin derivatives, penicicellarusins A-G (3-9), were isolated together with three known analogues from the fungus Penicillium cellarum. The structures of the new compounds were determined by a combination of NMR, mass and electronic circular dichroism spectral data analysis. The absolute configuration of penicyrone A (10) was corrected based on X-ray diffraction analyses. Bioactivity screening indicated that compounds 1, 2, and 4 showed much stronger promising hypoglycemic activity than the positive drug (rosiglitazone) in the range of 25-100 μM, which represents a potential new class of hypoglycemic agents. Preliminary structure-activity relationship analysis indicates that the formation of epoxy ring on C6-C7 in the structures is important for the glucose uptake-stimulating activity. The gene cluster for the biosynthesis of 1-12 is identified by sequencing the genome of P. cellarum and similarity analysis with the gene cluster of verrucosidins in P. polonicum.
Keywords: Penicillium cellarum; glucose uptake-stimulating activity; molecular networking; verrucosidins.