Secondary Metabolites from the Marine Sponge Genus Phyllospongia.

Phyllospongia, one of the most common marine sponges in tropical and subtropical oceans, has been shown to be a prolific producer of natural products with a broad spectrum of biological activities. This review for the first time provides a comprehensive overview of secondary metabolites produced by Phyllospongia spp. over the 37 years from 1980 to 2016

Marine Biodiscovery Research in Indonesia : Challenges and Rewards

Marine biodiscovery or bioprospecting activity is a search for marine products derived from marine biodiversity that can be developed for various industrial needs. Including in this activity is the process of identifying chemical compounds made by biological organisms which is often called natural product discovery. Indonesia, well known as a mega-diversity country, is one of the world hot sport of marine biodiversity. The richness of biodiversity is claimed as mirror of the richness of the chemical compounds, therefore, Indonesian waters might be rewarded with variety of chemical compounds thought to be an endless source of novel drugs and drug leads for pharmaceutical use. Up to 2007, at least 77 new compounds from 14 sponges and 19 new compounds from non-sponge organisms with pharmacological potential have been identified from Indonesian waters. To make this richness potentials becoming real in economic value, many factors should be considered. The bioactive is produced in small quantity, and the lengthy process from discovery step of a novel compound to the preclinical and clinical trials step is usually becoming a problem. Mari culture might be one among methods that can be developed in Indonesia to overcome the degradation hazard of marine resources. Conducive environment for investments, and improvement of technology on marine bioactive production through mariculture are factors to be improved to initiate and develop a sustainable biotechnology industries in Indonesia

Two New Retigerane-Type Sesterterpenoids from the Lichen Leprocaulon microscopicum

International audienceTwo new sesterterpenes, 1 and 2, have been isolated from the lichen Leprocaulon microscopicum. In addition to classic chromatographic methods, a liquid-liquid chromatography technique, namely centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) was applied for the purification of compound 2. The structures were determined by analyses of mass spectrometry and 1D- and 2D-NMR data. The relative configuration of the isolated compounds was assigned on the basis of 2D-NOESY experiments. The two compounds possess a rare pentacyclic carbon skeleton typical for lichen metabolism, and quite unusual in the vegetal kingdom

Terretonin, ophiobolin, and drimane terpenes with absolute configurations from an algicolous Aspergillus ustus

One new meroterpene, 1,2-dihydroterretonin F (2), five new sesterterpenes, (6a)-21-deoxyophiobolin G(3), (6a)-16,17-dihydro-21-deoxyophiobolin G (4), phiobolin U (5), ophiobolin V (6), and ophiobolin W (7),two new sesquiterpenes, (6-strobilactone-B) esters of (E,E)-6,7-epoxy-2,4-octadienoic acids (13 and 14),and twelve known terpenes (1, 8–12, and 15–20) were isolated from Aspergillus ustus, a fungus from the fresh tissue of marine green alga Codium fragile. Their structures and absolute configurations were identified by NMR and mass spectroscopic methods as well as quantum chemical calculations. Some of the isolates exhibited antibacterial activity and brine shrimp toxicity.One new meroterpene, 1,2-dihydroterretonin F (2), five new sesterterpenes, (6 alpha)-21-deoxyophiobolin G (3), (6 alpha)-16,17-dihydro-21-deoxyophiobolin G (4), ophiobolin U (5), ophiobolin V (6), and ophiobolin W(7), two new sesquiterpenes, (6-strobilactone-B) esters of (E,E)-6,7-epoxy-2,4-octadienoic acids (13 and 14), and twelve known terpenes (1, 8-12, and 15-20) were isolated from Aspergillus ustus, a fungus from the fresh tissue of marine green alga Codium fragile. Their structures and absolute configurations were identified by NMR and mass spectroscopic methods as well as quantum chemical calculations. Some of the isolates exhibited antibacterial activity and brine shrimp toxicity

Synthesis of bioconjugate sesterterpenoids with phospholipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids

A series of sesterterpenoid bioconjugates with phospholipids and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) have been synthesized for biological activity testing as antiproliferative agents in several cancer cell lines. Different substitution analogues of the original lipidic ether edelfosine (1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine) are obtained varying the sesterterpenoid in position 1 or 2 of the glycerol or a phosphocholine or PUFA unit in position 3. Simple bioconjugates of sesterterpenoids and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) have been obtained too. All synthetic derivatives were tested against the human tumour cell lines HeLa (cervix) and MCF-7 (breast). Some compounds showed good IC50 (0.3 and 0.2 μM) values against these cell lines.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2011-30518 and SAF2014-59716-R). Junta de Castilla y León BIO/SA59/15.Peer reviewe

Stereoselective construction of the tetracyclic scalarane skeleton from carvone

The tetracyclic scalarane skeleton 22 has been constructed from (S)-(+)-carvone using two intramolecular Diels–Alder reactions as key synthetic steps.Abad Somovilla, Antonio, [email protected] ; Agullo Blanes, M Consuelo, [email protected] ; Cuñat Romero, Ana Carmen, [email protected] ; Llosa Blasco, Maria Carmen, [email protected]