Dendronephthols A–C, new sesquiterpenoids from the Red Sea soft coral Dendronephthya sp

Isolation of Sesquiterpenoids and Steroids from the Soft Coral Sinularia brassica and Determination of Their Absolute Configuration

Two undescribed rearranged cadinane-type sesquiterpenoids (1-2), named sinulaketol A-B, together with one new chlorinated steroid (3), one new gorgosterol (4), one known sesquiterpene (5), one known dibromoditerpene (6) and two known polyhydroxylated steroids (7-8) were isolated from the soft coral Sinularia brassica. The structures of these compounds were established by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including HRESIMS, 1D, and 2D NMR spectroscopy. Their absolute configurations were also determined by the ECD calculations and DP4+ probability analysis. Antileishmanial activity of compounds 1-8 was evaluated in vitro against the amastigote forms of Leishmania donovani, in which compounds 3, 6, and 7 inhibited the growth of L. donovani by 58.7, 74.3, 54.7%, respectively, at a concentration of 50 μM. Antimicrobial effect of the isolated compounds were also evaluated against Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, and Escherichia coli. Compound 6, a brominated diterpene, exhibited antimicrobial effect against S. aureus.

Natural Products from Octocorals of the Genus Dendronephthya (Family Nephtheidae)

In this review, 170 natural substances, including steroid, diterpenoid, sesquiterpenoid, peptide, prostaglandin, base, chlorolipid, bicyclolactone, amide, piperazine, polyketide, glycerol, benzoic acid, glycyrrhetyl amino acid, hexitol, pentanoic acid, aminoethyl ester, octadecanone, alkaloid, and a 53-kD allergenic component from octocorals belonging to genus Dendronephthya, were listed. Some of these compounds displayed potential bioactivities.

Marine Invertebrate Extracts Induce Colon Cancer Cell Death via ROS-Mediated DNA Oxidative Damage and Mitochondrial Impairment

Marine compounds are a potential source of new anticancer drugs. In this study, the antiproliferative effects of 20 invertebrate marine extracts on three colon cancer cell models (HGUE-C-1, HT-29, and SW-480) were evaluated. Extracts from two nudibranchs (Phyllidia varicosa, NA and Dolabella auricularia, NB), a holothurian (Pseudocol ochirus violaceus, PS), and a soft coral (Carotalcyon sp., CR) were selected due to their potent cytotoxic capacities. The four marine extracts exhibited strong antiproliferative effects and induced cell cycle arrest at the G2/M transition, which evolved into early apoptosis in the case of the CR, NA, and NB extracts and necrotic cell death in the case of the PS extract. All the extracts induced, to some extent, intracellular ROS accumulation, mitochondrial depolarization, caspase activation, and DNA damage. The compositions of the four extracts were fully characterized via HPLC-ESI-TOF-MS analysis, which identified up to 98 compounds. We propose that, among the most abundant compounds identified in each extract, diterpenes, steroids, and sesqui- and seterterpenes (CR); cembranolides (PS); diterpenes, polyketides, and indole terpenes (NA); and porphyrin, drimenyl cyclohexanone, and polar steroids (NB) might be candidates for the observed activity. We postulate that reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation is responsible for the subsequent DNA damage, mitochondrial depolarization, and cell cycle arrest, ultimately inducing cell death by either apoptosis or necrosis.

Coral and Coral-Associated Microorganisms: A Prolific Source of Potential Bioactive Natural Products

Marine invertebrates and their associated microorganisms are rich sources of bioactive compounds. Among them, coral and its associated microorganisms are promising providers of marine bioactive compounds. The present review provides an overview of bioactive compounds that are produced by corals and coral-associated microorganisms, covering the literature from 2010 to March 2019. Accordingly, 245 natural products that possess a wide range of potent bioactivities, such as anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, antimicrobial, antivirus, and antifouling activities, among others, are described in this review.

Coral and Coral-Associated Microorganisms: A Prolific Source of Potential Bioactive Natural Products

Marine invertebrates and their associated microorganisms are rich sources of bioactive compounds. Among them, coral and its associated microorganisms are promising providers of marine bioactive compounds. The present review provides an overview of bioactive compounds that are produced by corals and coral-associated microorganisms, covering the literature from 2010 to March 2019. Accordingly, 245 natural products that possess a wide range of potent bioactivities, such as anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, antimicrobial, antivirus, and antifouling activities, among others, are described in this review.

Recent Updates on Corals from Nephtheidae

Marine natural products display a wide range of biological activities, which play a vital role in the innovation of lead compounds for the drug development. Soft corals have been ranked at the top in regard to the discovery of bioactive metabolites with potential pharmaceutical applications. Many of the isolated cembranoids revealed diverse biological activities, such as anticancer, antidiabetic and anti-osteoporosis. Likewise, sterols from soft corals exhibited interesting biological potential as anti-inflammatory, antituberculosis and anticancer. Consequently, investigating marine soft corals will definitely lead to the discovery of a large number of chemically varied secondary metabolites with countless bioactivities for possible applications in medicine and pharmaceutical industry. This review provides a complete survey of all metabolites isolated from the family Nephtheidae, from 2011 until November 2018, along with their natural sources and biological potential whenever possible.

Soft Coral Dendronephthya puetteri Extract Ameliorates Inflammations by Suppressing Inflammatory Mediators and Oxidative Stress in LPS-Stimulated Zebrafish

Marine-derived extract and/or bioactive compounds have attracted increasing demand due to their unique and potential uses as cures for various inflammation-based diseases. Several studies revealed anti-inflammatory candidates found in soft corals. However, the effects of soft corals on inflammation in an in vivo model remain to be determined. Therefore, the extract of soft coral Dendronephthya puetteri (DPE) was investigated for an in vivo anti-inflammatory effect in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated zebrafish model to determine its potential use as a natural anti-inflammatory agent. We also investigated whether DPE has toxic effects in a zebrafish model. No significant changes were observed in terms of survival, heart beat rate, or developmental abnormalities in the zebrafish embryos exposed to a concentration below 100 µg/mL of DPE. Treating the zebrafish model with LPS-treatment significantly increased the ROS, NO generation, and cell death. However, DPE inhibited this LPS-stimulated ROS, NO generation, and cell death in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, DPE significantly reduced the mRNA expression of both iNOS and COX-2 and markedly suppressed the expression levels of the proinflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IL-6, in an LPS-stimulated zebrafish model. These findings demonstrate that DPE has profound anti-inflammatory effect in vivo, suggesting that DPE might be a strong natural anti-inflammatory agent.

Marine natural products

This review covers the literature published in 2014 for marine natural products (MNPs), with 1116 citations (753 for the period January to December 2014) referring to compounds isolated from marine microorganisms and phytoplankton, green, brown and red algae, sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, molluscs, tunicates, echinoderms, mangroves and other intertidal plants and microorganisms. The emphasis is on new compounds (1378 in 456 papers for 2014), together with the relevant biological activities, source organisms and country of origin. Reviews, biosynthetic studies, first syntheses, and syntheses that lead to the revision of structures or stereochemistries, have been included.

Molecular architecture and biomedical leads of terpenes from red sea marine invertebrates

Marine invertebrates including sponges, soft coral, tunicates, mollusks and bryozoan have proved to be a prolific source of bioactive natural products. Among marine-derived metabolites, terpenoids have provided a vast array of molecular architectures. These isoprenoid-derived metabolites also exhibit highly specialized biological activities ranging from nerve regeneration to blood-sugar regulation. As a result, intense research activity has been devoted to characterizing invertebrate terpenes from both a chemical and biological standpoint. This review focuses on the chemistry and biology of terpene metabolites isolated from the Red Sea ecosystem, a unique marine biome with one of the highest levels of biodiversity and specifically rich in invertebrate species.

Isolation, structural assignment and synthesis of (SE)-2-methyloctyl 3-(4-methoxyphenyl) propenoate from the marine soft coral Sarcophyton ehrenbergi

A new metabolite 1 has been isolated from the marine soft coral Sarcophyton ehrenbergi along with two known diterpenoids 2 and 3 and cholesterol 4. The structure of 1 was determined by means of detailed spectroscopic analysis and unambiguously confirmed to have the S configuration by the synthesis of both enantiomers using 4-benzyl-2-oxazolidinone auxiliaries. (S)- and (R)-1, 3 and some of the synthetic intermediates were evaluated for cytotoxic activity against human lung cancer (A549), prostate cancer (DU145), cervical cancer (HeLa) and breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines in an in vitro bioassay.