Improved Biological Activities of Isoepoxypteryxin by Biotransformation

Isoepoxypteryxin is the major coumarin of a Japanese medicinal plant Angelica shikokiana. This research was designed to study the effect of structural changes through fungal biotransformation on the reported biological activities of isoepoxypteryxin. Among the tested microorganisms, only Cordyceps sinensis had enzymes that could catalyze the ester hydrolysis and the reductive cleavage of the epoxide ring of isoepoxypteryxin, separately, to give two more polar metabolites (+)‐cis‐khellactone ( P1 ) and a new coumarin derivative (+)‐cis‐3′‐[(2‐methyl‐3‐hydroxybutanoyl)oxy]‐4′‐acetoxy‐3′,4′‐dihydroseselin ( P2 ), respectively. The polar metabolite P2 showed stronger cytotoxicity and higher selectivity than isoepoxypteryxin. On the molecular level, P2 showed more in vitro inhibition of both tubulin polymerization and histone deacetylase 8 (HDAC8). Similarly, P2 showed more neuroprotection against amyloid beta fragment 1 – 42 (Aβ_{1 – 42})‐induced neurotoxicity in human neuroblastoma cells (SH‐SY5Y) and exhibited more inhibition of the in vitro aggregation of Aβ_{1 – 42}. Both metabolites showed stronger antiplatelet aggregation by increased inhibition of thromboxane‐A2 synthase (TXS) activity and thromboxane‐A2 (TXA2) production. This study is the first to describe the improved cytotoxic, neuroprotective, and antiplatelet aggregation activities of isoepoxypteryxin through its biotransformation by C. sinensis.