engleski

Cytotoxicity of some furofuran precursors of aflatoxin biosynthesis

Many studies have been carried out to elucidate cytotoxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic activity of aflatoxins. Some aspergilli that produce aflatoxins may contain some of the precursors of aflatoxin biosynthesis in their spores depending on the stage of aflatoxin production. A limited number of research has been carried out on biological effects of aflatoxin percursors that contain furofuran ring, which is incriminated for toxic effects of aflatoxins. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to determine cytotoxicity of some dihydrofurofurans (veriscolorin A or VER A, 6-deoxyversicolorin A or 6-DEOXY-VER A and 5- methoxysterigmatocystin or 5-MET-ST) and tetrahydrofurofurans (versicolorin B or VER B). Cytotoxicity of these compounds was detemined for human adenocarcinoma cell line A549 using colorimetric MTT assay (at 595 nm). Cells were exposed to various concentrations of VER A and 6- DEOXY-VER A (from 0.5 to 150 uM) as well as VER B and 5-MET-ST (from 0.5 to 250 uM) for 24 hours. Cytotoxic concentrations of tested compounds that inhibited 50% of cell viability (IC50) were: IC50=78 +/- 12 µ ; M (6-DEOXY-VER A) ; 109 +/- 3, 5 uM (VER A) ; 172 +/- 4 uM (VER B) and 181 +/- 2, 6 uM (5-MET-ST). VER B and 5-MET-ST applied at 0.5 uM exerted proliferative effect. Diferences in cytotoxic potential of tested compounds are probably the result of some changes in their structure which might affect lipophility/hydrophility ratio and therefore their transfer through cell membrane as well as their biotransformation. To our knowledge this is the first report on cytotoxic potential of furofuran precursors in afltoxin biosynthesis.

Furofuran rings; aflatoxin; sterigmatocystin; versicolorins

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