Thiodiketopiperazines Produced by the Endophytic Fungus Epicoccum nigrum

Thirteen new thiodiketopiperazines, epicoccin I (1), ent-epicoccin G (2), and epicoccins J-T (3-13), together with six known diketopiperazines (14-19), have been isolated from the endophytic fungus Epicoccum nigrum. The structures of 1, 2, and 10 were confirmed by X-ray crystallography, and the absolute configurations of 2, 4, 6, and 8 were assigned using Moshers' method. Compounds 2, 6, 12, and 17 showed potent activities in vitro against the release of beta-glucuronidase in rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes induced by platelet-activating factor, with IC(50) values of 3.07, 4.16, 4.95, and 1.98 microM, respectively. None of the 19 compounds exhibited detectable cytotoxic activities toward six tumor cell lines (A549, Be-l7402, BGC-823, HCT-8, HCT-116, and A2780) in the MTT assay.