Endophytic Fungi: Novel Sources of Anticancer Molecules

Abstract

Cancer is an enormous global health burden, touching every region of the world. The term "anticancer" is based on the assessment of the authors of the paper of the cytotoxicity of each compound against specifi c cancer cell lines. Endophytic fungi, fungi that are residing asymptomatically in internal tissues of all higher plants, are of growing interest as promising sources of biologically active agents. Endophytic fungi are one of the most creative groups of secondary metabolite producers that play important biological roles for human life. This chapter mainly focuses on endophytic fungi, which produce anticancer bioactive compounds such as paclitaxel, podophyllotoxin, camptothecin, vinblastine, hypericin, and diosgenin. The uniqueness of the endophytic community of fungi is stressed as a promising source of novel compounds with anticancer activity. Endophytes represent a dependable source of specifi c secondary metabolites and can be manipulated both physicochemically and genetically to increase yields of desired metabolites and to produce novel analogues of active metabolites.

Antibacterial and Anticancer Activity and Untargeted Secondary Metabolite Profiling of Crude Bacterial Endophyte Extracts from Crinum macowanii Baker Leaves

“…Secondary metabolites produced by endophytic microorganisms' act as anticancer agents and display significant potential in medical and veterinary treatments [ 79 , 80 ]. Anticancer agents paclitaxel and podophyllotoxin have been isolated from endophytic microorganisms [ 81 ].…”

Putative Anticancer Compounds from Plant-Derived Endophytic Fungi: A Review

“…Some of these agents obtained from plants are also found in their corresponding endophytic fungi. The following are some examples of plant/endophytic fungi-derived cancer effective agents [ 1 , 6 ] ( Figure 3 a,b).…”

“…Irinotecan (Camptosar ® ) has been approved for colorectal cancer treatment. These agents show cytotoxicity on account of their ability to inhibit a fundamental enzyme, topoisomerase-I, involved in the winding and unwinding process of DNA during replication or protein synthesis [ 1 , 223 ]. The vinca alkaloids, vinblastine and vincristine, and their semi-synthetic analogs, vinorelbine and vindesine, are primarily used in combination with other chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of advanced testicular cancer, breast cancer, Kaposi’s sarcoma, lung cancer, leukemias, and lymphomas [ 223 ].…”

“…Camptothecin (CPT) (1), a pentacyclic quinoline alkaloid, was, at first, isolated from the Camptotheca acuminata (happy tree) woods showing antileukemic and anti-cancer effects in animals [ 1 ]. It exerts its cytotoxicity by inhibition and dissociation of the DNA-topoisomerase-I complex during DNA replication [ 224 , 225 ].…”

“…In 1866, de Bary introduced the term “endophyte” [ 1 ]. An endophyte may be a fungal or bacterial microorganism that colonizes various interior parts of plants causing no apparent pathogenic effects on its host plants.…”