Eight new sterols (1-5 and 11-13), together with eight known compounds (6-10 and 14-16) were isolated from marine sponge Petrosia sp. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analysis. The cytotoxicity of some compounds against a panel of human cancer cell lines is also reported.

Ianthellamide A (1), a novel octopamine derivative, was isolated from the Australian marine sponge Ianthella quadrangulata. Compound 1 selectively inhibited the activity of kynurenine 3-hydroxylase with an IC(50) value of 1.5 μM. It also significantly increased the level of endogenous kynurenic acid in rat brain and hence has the potential as a neuroprotective agent in the treatment of neurodeg...

(+)-Makassaric acid (1) and (+)-subersic acid (2), new meroterpenoid inhibitors of the protein kinase MK2, have been isolated from the marine sponge Acanthodendrilla sp. collected in Indonesia. The structures of (+)-makassaric acid (1) and (+)-subersic acid (2) were determined by spectroscopic analysis.

The first total enantioselective synthesis of plakotenin is described. This marine natural product was isolated from an Okinawan sponge of the genus Plakortis and shows potent biological activity against several cancerous cell lines. A biomimetic intramolecular Diels-Alder reaction served as a key step in the total synthesis. The synthesis proves the relative and absolute stereochemistry of nat...

The marine sponge-associated bacterium Actinokineospora sp. strain EG49 produces the antitrypanosomal angucycline-like compound actinosporin A. The draft genome of Actinokineospora sp. EG49 has a size of 7.5 megabases and a GC content of 72.8% and contains 6,629 protein-coding sequences (CDS). antiSMASH predicted 996 genes residing in 36 secondary metabolite gene clusters.

Eight scalarane sesterterpenoids, including four new compounds, were isolated from the marine sponge Scalarispongia sp. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by 2D-NMR and HRMS analyses. All of the isolated compounds, with the exception of 16-O-deacetyl-12,16-epi-scalarolbutanolide, showed significant in vitro cytotoxicity (GI50 values down to 5.2 μM) against six human cancer cell...

The Rhodococcus strain WMMA185 was isolated from the marine sponge Chondrilla nucula as part of ongoing drug discovery efforts. Analysis of the 4.44-Mb genome provides information regarding interspecies interactions as pertains to regulation of secondary metabolism and natural product biosynthetic potentials.

Analogs of cortistatins, a series of anti-angiogenic compounds isolated from the Indonesian marine sponge Cortisium simplex, were synthesized from estrone by using the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction as the key step. The estrone-isoquinoline hybridized compound showed selective inhibitory activity against the proliferation and VEGF-induced migration of HUVEC.

Pyrrole-imidazole alkaloids are widely distributed in marine sponges of the orders Halichondrida and Agelasida. Chemical investigation of the Caribbean sponge Stylissa caribica has led to the isolation of the first brominated pyrrole-imidazole alkaloid containing an oxidized pyrrole moiety. The isolation and structure elucidation of oxocyclostylidol (1) are discussed in detail.

Two new sulfate monoesters of hemibastadins-1 and -2 were isolated from the marine sponge Ianthella basta (Pallas) from Guam. A third new compound was tentatively assigned the structure 34-O-sulfatobastadin-9. The 1-O-sulfatohemibastadins-1 and –2 were antagonists of the RyR1-FKBP12 Ca channel under conditions where the known compound bastadin-5 exhibits potent agonism (EC50 2 μM).