Imidazole Alkaloids and Their Zinc Complexes from the Calcareous Marine Sponge Leucetta chagosensis

J Nat Prod. 2018 Apr 27;81(4):894-900. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.7b01006. Epub 2018 Apr 12.

Abstract

Five new imidazole derivatives (1-5), together with eight related known alkaloids, were isolated from a calcareous marine sponge, Leucetta chagosensis, collected from the South China Sea. Their structures were fully characterized by spectroscopic methods. Structurally, 1 possesses an unusual skeleton featuring imidazole and oxazolone rings linked via a nitrogen atom, whereas 2 bears an intriguing guanylurea-substituted imidazole ring. Compounds 4 and 5 were identified as zinc complexes; they represent the metal complex analogues of naamidine J (6) and pyronaamidine (7), respectively. Among the isolated compounds, 2 and 5 showed significant inhibitory activities toward the LPS-induced production of IL-6 in the human acute monocytic leukemia cell line THP-1, and 7 displayed cytotoxicity against MCF-7, PC9, A549, and breast cancer stem cells (MCF-7-Oct4-GFP) with IC50 values of 5.2, 5.6, 7.8, and 10 μM, respectively.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • A549 Cells
  • Alkaloids / pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • Antifungal Agents / pharmacology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • China
  • Humans
  • Imidazoles / pharmacology*
  • Interleukin-6 / metabolism
  • MCF-7 Cells
  • Porifera / chemistry*
  • THP-1 Cells
  • Zinc / metabolism*

Substances

  • Alkaloids
  • Antifungal Agents
  • Imidazoles
  • Interleukin-6
  • imidazole
  • Zinc