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[structure: see text] UCS1025A and B, novel pentacyclic polyketides with an unprecedented furopyrrolizidine skeleton, were isolated from the fungus Acremonium sp. KY4917. The structures and stereochemistry were elucidated by a combination of two-dimensional NMR and X-ray crystallographic analysis. UCS1025A showed unique chemical equilibria involving three tautomeric isomers and exhibited antimicrobial activity and antiproliferative activity against human tumor cell lines.

Radicicol (1), a macrocyclic antifungal antibiotic, is the lead compound of a novel class of heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitors that result in the inhibition or degradation of Hsp90-associated proteins, such as v-src and Raf-1 kinases. New O-carbamoylmethyloxime derivatives of 1 were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antiproliferative activities against v-src- and K-ras-transformed cells and for their inhibitory activity against v-src tyrosine kinase. O-(Piperidinocarbonyl)methyloxime 9b, one of the most potent of these derivatives, exhibited more potent antiproliferative activity than 1 and its hydroxime KF25706 (2) and had an IC(50) of 25 nM for the inhibition of v-src kinase activity. Compound 9b was also found to decrease the Raf-1 protein level of KNRK5.2 cells. Furthermore, compound 9b exhibited significant antitumor activity when tested against MX-1 and A431 xenografts in nude mice.

Telomerase has been proposed as a selective target for cancer chemotherapy. We established a forward chemical genetics approach using a yeast strain with shortened telomere length. Since this strain rapidly enters cell senescence in the absence of active telomerase, compounds that induce selective growth defects against telomere-shortened yeast could be candidates for drugs acting on telomeres and telomerase. We screened our microbial products library and identified three structurally unrelated antibiotics, chrolactomycin, UCS1025A, and radicicol, as active compounds. Detailed analysis showed that chrolactomycin inhibited human telomerase in a cell-free assay as well as in a cellular assay. Long-term culture of cancer cells with chrolactomycin revealed population-doubling-dependent antiproliferative activity accompanied by telomere shortening. These results suggest that chrolactomycin is a telomerase inhibitor, and that the yeast-based assay is useful for discovering the small molecules acting on human telomerase.

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