Scyphostatin, a Neutral Sphingomyelinase Inhibitor from a Discomycete, Trichopeziza mollissima: Taxonomy of the Producing Organism, Fermentation, Isolation, and Physico-chemical roperties.

We performed experiments to screen for neutral sphingomyelinase inhibitors using rat brain microsomes as an enzyme source. Among more than 10,000 microbial extracts tested, a mycelial extract of Trichopeziza mollissima SANK 13892 exhibited potent inhibitory activity. The active compound, scyphostatin, was purified by a series of chromatographies. Scyphostatin inhibited the enzyme with an IC50 value of 1.0 microM.