• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.475-479
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• 2006

Gentisyl alcohol isolated from Penicillium sp. has an antioxidative activity, protecting cells from oxidative stresses. From our in vitro angiogenesis assays with bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs), gentisyl alcohol was newly identified as a pro-angiogenic small molecule that induces new blood vessel formation of the cells. Gentisyl alcohol stimulated the proliferation of BAECs in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, it induced in vitro angiogenesis of BAECs such as invasiveness, migration, and tube formation of the endothelial cells. Effects of gentisyl alcohol on invasion and tube formation were also dose-dependent. These results demonstrate that gentisyl alcohol could affect the angiogenic phenotypes of endothelial cells and be developed as a new small molecule with pro-angiogenic activity.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.532-536
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• 2005

In the course of our screening for small molecules to inhibit apoptosis of U937 human leukemia cells induced by etoposide ($10\;{\mu}g/ml$), Penicillium sp. F020150 with potent inhibitory activity was selected. The active compound was purified from ethyl acetate extract of the microorganism by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and HPLC, and was identified as gentisyl alcohol (2,5-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol) by spectroscopic methods. The compound inhibited caspase-3 induction with $IC_{50}$ value of $3.0\;{\mu}g/ml$ after 8 h of etoposide treatment. The expression levels of caspase-3 and PARP were dose-dependently inhibited by the compound, suggesting that gentisyl alcohol inhibits etoposide-induced apoptosis via downregulation of caspases.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.136-138
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• 2005

Bioassay-guided fractionation of an organic extract of the broth from the marine-derived fungus of the genus Aspergillus led to the isolation of the polyketides, (+)-epoxydon (1), (+)-epoxydon monoacetate (2), gentisyl alcohol (3), 3-chlorogentisyl alcohol (4), and methylhydroquinone (5). Compounds 1-5 showed a potent antibacterial activity against the methicillin-resistant and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MDRSA) with MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) values of 12.5, 12.5, 12.5, 50.0, and $6.2\;{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Compounds 1-4 also exhibited a significant radical scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) with $IC_{50}$ values of 6.0, 15.0, 7.0, and $1.0\;{\mu}M$, respectively.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.80-83
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• 2012

The addition of NaBr to the fermentation medium of a marine isolate of the fungus Dothideomycete sp. resulted in induced production of two toluhydroquinone derivatives, 5-bromotoluhydroquinone (1) and 4-O-methyltoluhydroquinone (2), and two known compounds, toluhydroquinone (3) and gentisyl alcohol (4). The structures of 1 and 2 were assigned through the spectroscopic data analyses. Compounds 1-4 showed a potent antibacterial activity against the methicillin-resistant and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MDRSA) with MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) values of 6.2, 12.5, 6.2, and 12.5 ${\mu}g/ml$, respectively. Compounds 1-4 also exhibited a moderate radical scavenging activity against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) with $IC_{50}$ values of 11.0, 17.0, 12.0, and 7.0 ${\mu}M$, respectively, which were more active than the positive control, L-ascorbic acid ($IC_{50}$, 20.0 ${\mu}M$).

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.33 no.3 s.130
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• pp.219-223
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• 2002

In order to screen new radical scavenging principle which is expected to be antiaging drug lead, we have isolated 160 strains of the marine-derived fungi and investigated 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity for their acetone extracts. The significant activities (>50% Inhibition) were observed in 8 strains of fungi (MFA006, MFA0l4, MFA040, MFA133, MFA139, MFA143, MFA148, MFA153), and among them, MFA153 (Aspergillus parasiticus) showed the most significant radical scavenging activity. The active components were purified by assay-guided isolation to yield two known benzyl alcohols, l53B3 (1) and l53B4 (2), and their structures were determined by physicochemical evidence. Two compounds (1,2) showed the significant radical scavenging activity with $IC_{50}$ values of 0.6 and $1.4{\mu}M$ against DPPH, respectively.