Bioactive sesquiterpenes produced by fungi: are they useful for humans as well?

Higher fungi are characterised by the production of macroscopic fruiting bo dies to generate and to distribute their spores. These fruiting bodies are under constant threat of other organisms feeding on them. As a consequence these organisms developed a number of strategies for protection, one of the m is the production of toxins. The fungal subdivision Basidiomycotina produ ce toxic sesquiterpenes many of them are derived from the protoilludane ske leton. This skeleton is transformed and rearranged to a large number of com pounds. Some of these sesquiterpenes show interesting biological properties which may be attractive for medicinal chemistry. The overview describes the different types of bioactive fungal sesquiterpen es derived from humulene known to date in Basidiomycotina and their formati on. The metabolites are discussed according to their sesquiterpene skeleton and the different metabolites are compared. Where available biological act ivities concerning antifungal, antibacterial, cytotoxic and enzyme inhibiti on data are given. Special attention was paid for the different activities of these metabolites and the attempts made to use them in medicinal chemist ry. The question whether metabolites produced for the self-protection of fu ngi can be used for pharmaceutical applications for humans will be adressed and discussed.