Avertoxins A-D, Prenyl Asteltoxin Derivatives from Aspergillus versicolor Y10, an Endophytic Fungus of Huperzia serrata

Aspergillus versicolor Y10 is an endophytic fungus isolated from Huperzia serrata, which showed inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase. An investigation of the chemical constituents of Y10 led to the isolation of four new prenylated asteltoxin derivatives, named avertoxins A-D (2-5), together with the known mycotoxin asteltoxin (1). In the present study, we report structure elucidation for 2-5 and the revised NMR assignments for asteltoxin and demonstrated that avertoxin B (3) is an active inhibitor against human acetylcholinesterase with the IC50 value of 14.9 μM (huperzine A as the positive control had an IC50 of 0.6 μM). In addition, the cytotoxicity of asteltoxin (1) and avertoxins A-D (2-5) against MDA-MB-231, HCT116, and HeLa cell lines was evaluated.