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Three unique linear oligomeric depsipeptides, designated as cavomycins A-C ( 1 - 3 ), were identified from Streptomyces cavourensis , a gut bacterium associated with the annelid Paraleonnates uschakovi . The structures of these depsipeptides were determined through a combination of spectroscopic methods and chemical derivatization techniques, including methanolysis, the modified Mosher's method, advanced Marfey's methods, and phenylglycine methyl ester derivatization. The unique dipeptidyl residue arrangements in compounds 1 - 3 indicate that they are not degradation products of valinomycin. Compound 2 and its methylation derivative 2a exhibited antiproliferative activity against PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells with IC 50 values of 1.2 and 1.7 μM, respectively.

Eucapsitrione (1), an anthraquinone derivative with an indeno-anthracene-trione skeleton, was isolated from the cyanobacterium Eucapsis sp. (UTEX 1519) by bioassay-guided fractionation. The chemical structure was determined by analyzing MS and 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data. Eucapsitrione (1) showed anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis activity in the microplate Alamar blue assay and low-oxygen-recovery assay with MIC values of 3.1 and 6.4 microM, respectively.

Bioassay- and LC-MS-guided fractionation of a methanol extract from a new deep-water Alaskan sponge species of the genus Latrunculia resulted in the isolation of two new brominated pyrroloiminoquinones, dihydrodiscorhabdin B and discorhabdin Y (2), along with six known pyrroloiminoquinone alkaloids, discorhabdins A (3), C (4), E (5), and L (6), dihydrodiscorhabdin C (7), and the benzene derivative 8. Compounds 3, 4, and 7 exhibited anti-HCV activity, antimalarial activity, and selective antimicrobial activity. Although compounds 3 and 7 displayed potent and selective in vitro antiprotozoal activity, Plasmodium berghei-infected mice did not respond to these metabolites due to their toxicity in vivo.

Bioassay-guided chromatographic separation of the antimycobacterial extract of the leaves of Piper sanctum afforded 14 new compounds, identified as 2-oxo-12-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)dodecane (1), 2-oxo-14-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)tetradecane (2), 2-oxo-16-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)hexadecane (3), 2-oxo-18-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)octadecane (4), 2-oxo-14-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)-trans-13-tetradecene (5), 2-oxo-16-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)-trans-15-hexadecene (6), 2-oxo-18-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)-trans-17-octadecene (7), 2-oxo-16-phenyl-trans-3-hexadecene (8), methyl [6-(10-phenyldecanyl)tetrahydropyran-2-yl]acetate (9), methyl 2-(6-tridecyltetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-yl)acetate (10), methyl 2-(5-tetradecyltetrahydro-2-furanyl)acetate (11), 2-oxo-14-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)-trans-3-tetradecene (12), 2-oxo-16-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)-trans-3-hexadecene (13), and 2-oxo-16-phenyl-3-hexadecane (14). In addition, p-eugenol (15), methyleugenol (16), Z-piperolide (17), demethoxyyangonin (18), 5,6-dehydro-7,8-dihydromethysticin (19), cepharanone B (20), piperolactam A (21), cepharadione B (22), N-trans-feruloyltyramine (23), and N-trans-(p-coumaroyl)tyramine (24) were obtained from the anti-TBC stem extract of the plant. GC-MS and HPLC analyses of the essential oils of the leaves and stem revealed that safrol (25) was the major component of the oils. Compounds 2, 3, 6, 18-21, and 24 inhibited the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis when tested by the MABA assay, with MIC values ranging from 4 to 64 microg/mL.

Assay-guided fractionation of an antitubercular extract obtained from Lessonia nigrescens yielded the phytosterol saringosterol as its active component. No appreciable toxicity against Vero cells was observed for this compound. Saringosterol was also synthesized by oxidation of fucosterol. The MIC values for antitubercular activity of saringosterol and its 24S and 24R epimers were determined as 0.25, 1, and 0.125 microg/mL.

Assay-guided fractionation of the antitubercular MeOH-CH(2)Cl(2) extract obtained from Lippia turbinata led to the isolation of four novel triterpenoids-3beta,25-epoxy-3alpha,21alpha-dihydroxy-22beta-(3-methylbut-2-en-1-oyloxy)olean-12-ene-28-oic acid (1); 3beta,25-epoxy-3alpha,21alpha-dihydroxy-22beta-angeloyloxyolean-12-ene-28-oic acid (2); 3beta,25-epoxy-3alpha,21alpha-dihydroxy-22beta-tigloyloxyolean-12-ene-28-oic acid (3); and 3beta,25-epoxy-3alpha-hydroxy-22beta-(2-methylbutan-1-oyloxy)olean-12-ene-28-oic acid (4)-together with the known triterpenoids lantanilic acid (5), camaric acid (6), lantanolic acid (7), and rehmannic acid (8). The MIC values of 1-8 for growth inhibition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were determined in the radiorespirometric BACTEC system.

Three novel triterpenes, 3,4-seco-olean-12-ene-3,28-dioic acid (4), 3alpha-hydroxyolean-11-en-28,13beta-olide (5), and 3alpha-hydroxyoleane-11:13(18)-dien-28-oic acid (6), were isolated from the aerial parts of the Argentinean shrub, Junellia tridens. Another five compounds-oleanolic (1), oleanonic (2), and epioleanolic acids (3), all biosynthetically related to the three new oleananes, and epibetulinic acid (7) and sitosterol (8)-were also isolated. Structures were elucidated primarily by 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometry, and all protons and carbons of the three novel compounds were fully assigned by NMR. We report the minimum inhibitory concentrations of these compounds against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and conclude that they are responsible for antitubercular activity originally observed in the crude plant extract. LC-MS data is provided on the occurrence of triterpenes 1-6 in six other species of Junellia.

In a bioassay-guided search for antimycobacterial compounds from higher plants, we have chemically investigated methanolic extracts of seeds of Melia volkensii. Chromatographic fractions provided two new euphane (20R)-type triterpenoids. The structures of the new compounds, 12beta-hydroxykulactone (1) and 6beta-hydroxykulactone (2), were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR (13C, 1H, 1H-1H COSY, HMQC, HMBC, and NOESY spectra) and FABMS studies and shown to be hydroxyl derivatives of kulactone (3). Also isolated was the known kulonate (4). In a radiorespirometric bioassay against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, compounds 1, 2, and 4 exhibited minimum inhibitory concentrations of 16, 4, and 16 microg/mL, respectively.

In an attempt to study the structural dependence of antimycobacterial activity of the guaianolide dehydrocostus lactone and its derivatives, m-chloroperoxybenzoic acid oxidations of dehydrocostus lactone (1a) were performed. Three new monoepoxides, one previously synthesized diepoxide, and two new diepoxides were obtained. Two of the monoepoxides are C-10 epimers (3a, 3b), while the 4(15)-monoepoxide (2) has the 4alpha-O-configuration. The known diepoxide (4a) contains a C-10 alpha-epoxide and a beta-epoxide at C-4. The diepoxides 4b and 4c, each with a C-4 alpha-epoxy group, differ in the configuration of the epoxide ring at C-10. Allylic oxidation of dehydrocostus lactone (1a) with selenium dioxide/tert-butyl hydroperoxide afforded the known 3-epizaluzanin C (1b). The relative configurations of compounds 1b-4c were established by 1D and 2D NMR techniques (1H, 13C, COSY, NOESY, HMQC, and HMBC) as well as comparison with literature data. The molecular structures of lactones 1b, 4a, and 4c were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In radiorespirometric bioassays against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium avium, dehydrocostus lactone (1a) exhibited minimum inhibitory concentrations of 2 and 16 microgram/mL, respectively. In contrast, its monoepoxides (2, 3a, and 3b) and diepoxides (4a-c), as well as its hydrogenated derivatives and other analogues (1b, 1c, 5, and 6), showed significantly lower activities against M. tuberculosis.

Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the petroleum ether extract of Azorella madreporica Clos has led to the isolation of the novel, antitubercular mulinane diterpenoid 1. The structure has been elucidated on the basis of its 1D and 2D NMR spectra and by comparison with mulinolic acid 2 and a dehydration product 3 obtained from 1. The MIC of 1 for growth inhibition of the H37Rv strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was determined as 20 microg/mL. LC-MS and NMR have suggested the presence of this new compound in four other species of Azorella.

In a bioassay-guided search for antimycobacterial compounds from higher plants of the southeastern United States, we have chemically investigated the sea daisy (Borrichia frutescens) from coastal marshes of Louisiana for their active constituents. Bioactive chromatographic fractions provided two new triterpenes, (24R)-24,25-epoxycycloartan-3-one (1) and (23R)-3-oxolanosta-8,24-dien-23-ol (4), and (3 alpha H, 24R)-24,25-epoxycycloartan-3-ol (3a). Compound 3a had been previously isolated as a mixture of C-24 epimers. The structures of 1, 3a, and 4 were established by spectroscopic methods and chemical transformations, and the molecular structures of 1 and 4 were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In a radiorespirometric bioassay against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the epoxycycloartanes 1 and 3a exhibited minimum inhibitory concentrations of 8 micrograms/mL. In contrast, the lanostadiene-type triterpene 4 showed no significant inhibition at 128 micrograms/mL, as did the acetate 3b. Cytotoxicity for Vero cells gave IC50 values of 71.8, 39.8, and 103.6 micrograms/mL for triterpenes 1, 3a, and 4, respectively.