By feeding various amino acids to the marine fungus Scedosporium apiospermum F41-1, 22 diverse alkaloids, including 14 new compounds, were obtained. Scedapins A-E (1-5) possess a rare skeleton of a pyrazinoquinazolinedione and an imidazoindolone/indolone linked by a tetrahydrofuran ring. Scedapin C (3) is the first example of fumiquinazoline that contains an aminosulfonyl group. Their structures were determined by HRMS, NMR, ECD calculations and X-ray single-crystal diffraction analysis. The biosynthetic pathways of fumiquinazolines 1-18 were proposed. Scedapin C (3) and scequinadoline D (8) displayed significant antiviral activity against hepatitis C.

Our results indicate that patients with early PD have subtle signs of postural instability when their attention is diverted or reduced. In addition, deficits of stereopsis may be common in early PD patients. St Abbreviations: ACC: Accelerometers; ANOVA: Analysis of variance; AP: Antero-posterior; COP: Center of pressure; EC: Eyes closed; ECDT: eyes closed with dual task; EO: Eyes open; EODT: Eyes open with dual task; GDS: Geriatric depression scale; JERK: Jerkiness of sway; ML: Medio-lateral; MMSE: Mini mental state examination; MoCA: Montreal cognitive assessment; PD: Parkinson's disease; PDAbS: PD Patients with abnormal stereopsis; PDNrS: PD Patients with normal stereopsis; PIGD: Postural instability and gait disorder; RMS: Root mean square; UPDRS: Unified Parkinson's disease rating scale.

By adding l-tryptophan and l-phenylalanine to GPY medium, twenty-eight compounds, including amides, polyketides, a sesquiterpenoid, a diterpenoid, a meroterpenoid, diketopiperazines, β-carbolines, fumiquinazolines, and indole alkaloids, were discovered from the marine-derived fungus Dichotomomyces cejpii F31-1, demonstrating the tremendous biosynthetic potential of this fungal strain. Among these compounds, four amides dichotomocejs A–D (1–4), one polyketide dichocetide A (5), and two diketopiperazines dichocerazines A–B (15 and 16) are new. The structures of these new compounds were determined by interpreting detailed spectroscopic data as well as calculating optical rotation values and ECD spectra. Obviously, Dichotomomyces cejpii can effectively use an amino acid-directed strategy to enhance the production of nitrogen-containing compounds. Dichotomocej A (1) displayed moderate cytotoxicity against the human rhabdomyosarcoma cell line RD with an IC50 value of 39.1 µM, and pityriacitrin (22) showed moderate cytotoxicity against the human colon carcinoma cell line HCT116 with an IC50 value of 35.1 µM.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is often associated with declined visual processing abilities. Here we tested whether the functions of center-surround suppression- a hallmark property in the visual system- are altered by AD. To this end, we recruited three groups of participants (AD, elderly, and young) in a motion direction discrimination task, in which we measured the temporal duration threshold of a  drifting Gabor with varying stimulus sizes. We first replicated the phenomena of center-surround suppression that the required duration for discriminating a high contrast grating decreases with increasing stimulus size. We then showed that the magnitudes of suppression varied among the three groups. There was progressive reduction of suppression in the elderly and AD groups compared with the young group. Interestingly, we found that the levels of suppression can predict the severity of dementia in the AD group. Our results suggest that AD is associated with impaired center-surround functions in the visual motion processing pathway.