Pladienolides, New Substances from Culture of Streptomyces platensis Mer-11107 I. Taxonomy, Fermentation, Isolation and Screening

Seven new macrolides having a 12-membered ring, which we termed pladienolides, were isolated from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces platensis Mer-11107. Six of the seven pladienolides inhibited hypoxia-induced reporter gene expression controlled by human VEGF promoter with IC50 values of 0.0018-2.89 microM. They also demonstrated growth-inhibitory activity against U251 human glioma cells in vitro. Pladienolides are highly potent inhibitors of both hypoxia signals and cancer cell proliferation, and thus may be useful as antitumor agents.