Immunosuppressive Characteristics of Oligomycin Derivatives Produced by Streptomyces lydicus MCY-524

A strain producing immunosuppressive substances was isolated from a soil in Cheju island. By morphological, cultural, and physiological studies, the strain was identified as Streptomyces lydicus MCY-524. Cultured broth was purified by silica gel, sephadex LH-20 and preparative HPLC and gave two immunosuppressive compounds, MCH-22 and MCH-32. They dramatically suppressed the B cell activation with lipopolysaccharide, T cell activation by mixed lymphocyte response, and primary T-dependent antibody response at a final concentration of 1 ${\mu}g$/ml. They also markedly suppressed the proliferation of lymphocytes induced by lipopolysaccharide, pokeweed mitogen, and concanavaline A at the same concentration. Their suppressive activities, which were comparable to those of cyclosporin A, suggested that they were potent and broad immunotoxic agents on the immune functions of murine lymphocytes.