COX-2 and JAK3 inhibitory meroterpenoids from the mushroom Ganoderma theaecolum

Ganoderma mushrooms possess antioxidant, anticancer, and immunomodulatory properties. In this study, eleven new meroterpenoids, ganotheaecolumols A-K (1-6,10,11,13,14, and 17), together with nine known ones (7-9,12,15,16, and 18-20) were isolated from the fruiting bodies of G. theaecolum. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic and computational methods. All the new compounds and iso-ganotheaecolumol I (12) were tested for their inhibitory activities against COX-2 and JAK3 kinases, and cytotoxic effects. It was found that most meroterpenoids could inhibit COX-2 and JAK3 with compounds 3,4,12,13, and 17 having IC50 values of 1.05 +/- 0.10,1.38 +/- 0.11, 2.61 +/- 0.79, 3.47 +/- 0.58, and 4.84 +/- 0.60 mu M towards COX-2. Whereas, none of the test compounds exhibited cytotoxic effects against human cancer cells (K562, A549, and Huh-7). (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.