Biological Activities of Compounds from Lichens Dolichousnea longissima and Hypotrachyna cirrhata and Their Docking against Transcriptional Regulator and Kinase Mnk-2

Abstract: Lichens are symbiotic associates of photobionts and mycobionts, and fungi produce a diverse array of secondary metabolites, which are a promising source of novel drug leads. As a part of our drug discovery program, we carried out chemical investigation of Himalayan lichens Dolichousnea longissima and Hypotrachyna cirrhata. The compounds were isolated from lichens by gravity column chromatography and characterized by LC-ESI-MS and NMR. The antimicrobial and anticancer activities of compounds were tested. Potential compounds with antimicrobial and anticancer activities were computed by docking against 3MVP and 2HW7 proteins. Lichesterinic acid showed highest zone of inhibition (15.8 ± 0.2 mm) of antimicrobial activities against Streptococcus mutans. Usnic and barbatic acids exhibited highest anticancer activity with 93.51 ± 0.50 and 85.12 ± 0.90% inhibition of MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. Lichesterinic, usnic and barbatic acids showed better biological activities as summarized by the principal component analysis. Virtual docking indicated the significant interaction of –5.108 kcal/mol for lichesterinic acid against 3MVP and –8.793 kcal/mol for usnic acid against 2HW7. The study indicated that lichesterinic acid is a promising antimicrobial agent while barbatic and usnic acids are potential anticancer agents.