Mycosynthetix owns one of the largest libraries (55,000 strains) of filamentous fungi
in the world. These organisms were isolated from substrates sourced from a wide variety
of ecosystems and include many strains from tropical rain forests where there is a
high degree of biodiversity. Our primary purpose is to exploit the medicinal and pharmaceutical
potential of this large library. We have established validated whole organism assays
to determine activity of fungal products against Haemonchus contortus, Cooperia onchophora, Stronglyoides stercoralis, Brugia pahangi
(Bp) and Dirofilaria immitis microfilaria (Mf), L3 and L4 stages and Aedes aegypti larvae. There is little crossover of activity between the endo- and ectoparasites.
Several compounds not only had high potency against BpMf but also caused high mortality
within 24 hours. A small library of carefully selected purified fungal metabolites
was tested in the BpMf assay at 50 ppm: a number of compounds were fully active at
3 – 6µM with the more potent showing nanomolar activity. One compound has shown potent
activity against Bp L3 and L4 and DiL3, and several others are being tested. Results
from several mammalian cell lines coupled with associated anti-parasitic data have
identified compounds with high potency and a promising in vitro therapeutic index.
