Dihydromaniwamycin E (1), a new maniwamycin
derivative
featuring an azoxy moiety, has been isolated from the culture extract
of thermotolerant Streptomyces sp. JA74 along with
the known analogue maniwamycin E (2). Compound 1 is produced only by cultivation of strain JA74 at 45 °C,
and this type of compound has been previously designated a “heat
shock metabolite (HSM)” by our research group. Compound 2 is detected as a production-enhanced metabolite at high
temperature. Structures of 1 and 2 are elucidated
by NMR and MS spectroscopic analyses. The absolute structure of 1 is determined after the total synthesis of four stereoisomers.
Though the absolute structure of 2 has been proposed
to be the same as the structure of maniwamycin D, the NMR and the
optical rotation value of 2 are in agreement with those
of maniwamycin E. Therefore, this study proposes a structural revision
of maniwamycins D and E. Compounds 1 and 2 show inhibitory activity against the influenza (H1N1) virus infection
of MDCK cells, demonstrating IC50 values of 25.7 and 63.2
μM, respectively. Notably, 1 and 2 display antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent
of COVID-19, when used to infect 293TA and VeroE6T cells, with 1 and 2 showing IC50 values (for infection
of 293TA cells) of 19.7 and 9.7 μM, respectively. The two compounds
do not exhibit cytotoxicity in these cell lines at those IC50 concentrations.