Cytotoxic tetracyclic triterpenes from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus of Cleidion brevipetiolatum

Abstract In our search for cytotoxic natural products from endophytic fungi of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), two previously unreported tetracyclic triterpenes, namely asperfumins A (1) and B (2), were isolated from Aspergillus fumigatus, an endophytic fungus derived from Cleidion brevipetiolatum. Their structures were unequivocally elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis including HRESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR. Asperfumins A (1) and B (2) exhibited cytotoxic activities on three human cancer cell lines (A549, HGC-27, and H1975) with the IC50 values of 4.2–26.5 μM.