A MassQL-Integrated Molecular Networking Approach for the Discovery and Substructure Annotation of Bioactive Cyclic Peptides

J Nat Prod. 2024 Apr 26;87(4):692-704. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00750. Epub 2024 Feb 22.

Abstract

The marine sponge-derived fungus Stachylidium bicolor 293 K04 is a prolific producer of specialized metabolites, including certain cyclic tetrapeptides called endolides, which are characterized by the presence of the unusual amino acid N-methyl-3-(3-furyl)-alanine. This rare feature can be used as bait to detect new endolide-like analogs through customized fragment pattern searches of tandem mass spectrometry data using the Mass Spec Query Language (MassQL). Here, we integrate endolide-specific MassQL queries with molecular networking to obtain substructural information guiding the targeted isolation and structure elucidation of the new proline-containing endolides E (1) and F (2). We showed that endolide F (but not E) is a moderate antagonist of the arginine vasopressin V1A receptor, a member of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Marine Biology
  • Molecular Structure
  • Peptides, Cyclic* / chemistry
  • Peptides, Cyclic* / pharmacology
  • Porifera* / chemistry
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Substances

  • Peptides, Cyclic