Anti-aging derivatives of cycloastragenol produced by biotransformation

Abstract

In this study, the microbial transformation of cycloastragenol (CA) by the fungi Mucor subtilissimus AS 3.2456 and Aspergillus oryzae AS 3.407 yielded 19 metabolites. Their structures were established based on extensive NMR and HR-MS data analyses, and six of them are new compounds. The two fungal strains exhibited distinct biocatalytic features. M. subtilissimus could catalyse hydroxylation and carbonylation reactions meanwhile the fragile 9,19-cyclopropane ring remained intact. A. oryzae preferred to catalyse hydroxylation, acetylation and ring expansion reactions. These highly specific reactions are difficult to achieve by chemical synthesis, particularly under mild conditions. Furthermore, we found that most of the metabolites could significantly extend the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans at 50 µM. These biotransformed derivatives of CA could be potential anti-aging agents.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Mucor subtilissimus
• Aspergillus oryzae
• biotransformation
• cycloastragenol
• anti-aging activity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31800281) and the Natural Science Project of Nantong Science and Technology Board (MS12017021-5) for funding towards this research.