Merosesquiterpene Congeners from the Australian Sponge Hyrtios digitatus as Potential Drug Leads for Atherosclerosis Disease.

A study of the chemical constituents from the Australian Sponge Hyrtios digitatus has provided a perspective on the connection between the chemistry and biology of the puupehenones, a unique and unusual class of merosesquiterpenes. In this study, a new tetracyclic merosesquiterpene, 19-methoxy-9,15-ene-puupehenol ( 1 ) was isolated from the marine sponge Hyrtios digitatus along with the known 20-methoxy-9,15-ene-puupehenol ( 2 ). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data (¹H and ¹³ C NMR) in combination with experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. Compounds 1 and 2 are active at 1.78 μM and 3.05 μM, respectively, on Scavenger Receptor-Class B Type 1 HepG2 (SR-B1 HepG2) stable cell lines, targeting atherosclerosis disease.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.