Cerevisterol and aloesol from a marine derived Penicillium fungus as potential topical cosmeceutical ingredients

Abstract

Abstract • Background The use of natural products in cosmetics and pharmacy has dramatically increased in recent years, leading to the overexploitation of flora and fauna worldwide and threatening environmental sustainability. Microbial-derived components could help solve this problem owing to their independently controllable cultural properties. • Results For the purpose of investigating microfungi for producing potential novel cosmeceuticals, cerevisterol (1) and aloesol (2) were isolated from a Penicillium fungus and tested for biological properties, including antimicrobial, tyrosinase inhibitory and wound healing activities. The results revealed wound-healing potentials of two fungal compounds (1) and (2) in terms of cell proliferation promotion in NIH-3T3 murine fibroblasts and scratch assay on 24-well plates using SPLScar™ Scratcher. Interestingly, the filamentous fungus-originated cerevisterol exhibited antimicrobial activity against the acne-causing bacteria Propionibacterium acnes and an inhibitory effect against tyrosinase in substrate L-tyrosine with IC50 = 51.98 µM. In addition, (1) and (2) were found to enhance the wound closure rates of the fibroblast monolayer after 72 h of incubation by up to 19.86–24.82% compared to the vehicle control. • Conclusions The results opened new prospects for the application of filamentous fungus-derived compounds, especially in the cosmetics industry.