Chaetocin is a fungal metabolite with antimicrobial and cytostatic activity. It belongs to the 3,6-epidithio-diketopiperazines class of which gliotoxin, sporidesmin, aranotin, oryzachloride, verticillin A and the melinacidins are members. Chaetocin is a molecular dimer of two five-membered rings cis fused. Interestingly, the chirality of the 3,6-epidithiodioxopiperazine moiety in chaetocin is opposite to the chirality of gliotoxin, sporidesmin, aranotin, and oryzachloride. Unlike these compounds, chaetocin does not have an antiviral activity. This fungal toxin showed strong cytotoxicity against HeLa cells (IC50 = 0.05 mg/ml).
