Diaphorin, a polyketide produced by a bacterial symbiont of the Asian citrus psyllid, kills various human cancer cells

PLoS One. 2019 Jun 10;14(6):e0218190. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218190. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Diaphorin is a polyketide produced by Candidatus Profftella armatura (Betaproteobacteria), an organelle-like defensive symbiont harbored by a plant sap-sucking insect, Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri (Hemiptera: Liviidae). Diaphorin belongs to the pederin family, a group of compounds that share much of their core structure with that of pederin, which is characterized by two dihydropyran rings bridged by an N-acyl aminal. Most members of this family have potent antitumor activity, making them promising anticancer drug candidates. The present study assessed the therapeutic potential of diaphorin for its antitumor activity against 39 human cancer cell lines including those from breast, brain, colon, lung, skin, ovary, kidney, stomach, and prostate. The results showed that diaphorin had inhibitory activity against all 39 cancer cell lines tested. The GI50, TGI, and LC50 values ranged from 0.28 μM- 2.4 μM, 1.6 μM -11 μM, and 7.5 μM-> 100 μM, respectively. These values are among the highest in the pederin family, indicating that the anticancer activity of diaphorin is milder than those of other pederin congeners. The inhibitory effects of diaphorin significantly differed among the distinct cancer types. The maximum difference was about 10-fold, which was similar to those of most other pederin congeners.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Betaproteobacteria / metabolism*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
  • Hemiptera / chemistry*
  • Hemiptera / microbiology
  • Humans
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Polyketides / pharmacology
  • Polyketides / therapeutic use*
  • Symbiosis

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Polyketides

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (https://www.jsps.go.jp) KAKENHI grant number 26292174 to AN. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.