Gliotoxin-E: A New Biologically-Active Epipolythiodioxopiperazine Isolated From Penicillium terlikowskii

Abstract

The trisulfide analogue (1; n = 3) of gliotoxin (1; n = 2) has been purified and characterized from cultures of Penicillium terlikowskii , and has also been shown to be present in cultures of the pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus and the thermophilic fungus Thermoascus crustaceus. This compound is equipotent with gliotoxin in a macrophage cell adherence assay confirming earlier results on crude preparations of the compound from A.fumigatus . The compound has been named gliotoxin -E by analogy with sporidesmin-E.