10.1246/cl.2009.150
This study investigated the cellular localization of (?)-ternatin, a potent inhibitor of fat accumulation, in 3T3-L1 murine preadipocytes. (?)-ternatin is a highly N-methylated cyclic heptapeptide isolated from the mushroom Coriolus versicolor, which has been shown to inhibit fat accumulation in vitro and in vivo. To explore its cellular localization, FITC-labeled ternatin (3) was synthesized from a highly bioactive ternatin analog (2) and a FITC-linker conjugate (5) using click chemistry. FITC-labeled ternatin was found to localize in specific organelles of 3T3-L1 cells, suggesting that (?)-ternatin exerts its biological activity there. A negative control compound (7) was also synthesized in which the peptide core was substituted with a methyl ester group. The results showed that FITC-labeled ternatin (3) had a moderate inhibitory effect on fat accumulation with an IC50 value of 23 mM and no significant cytotoxicity, while the negative control (7) had no inhibitory effect or cytotoxicity.