Biological Activities of Ethanolic Extracts from Deep-Sea Antarctic Marine Sponges

• Published in: Marine Drugs
• Main Authors: Dietrich Mebs, Silke Kauferstein, Dorte Janussen, Sandra Čivović, Rok Kosmina, Gašper Strugar, Urška Batista, Jerneja Ambrožič Avguštin, Tom Turk, Kristina Sepčić
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2013
• Subjects: Antarctic marine sponges; hemolysis; antibacterial activity; acetylcholinesterase inhibition; cytotoxicity; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Arctic; Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/md11041126; https://doaj.org/article/60a7c21b645e4900bdb245527a2305fe

We report on the screening of ethanolic extracts from 33 deep-sea Antarctic marine sponges for different biological activities. We monitored hemolysis, inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, cytotoxicity towards normal and transformed cells and growth inhibition of laboratory, commensal and clinically and ecologically relevant bacteria. The most prominent activities were associated with the extracts from sponges belonging to the genus Latrunculia, which show all of these activities. While most of these activities are associated to already known secondary metabolites, the extremely strong acetylcholinesterase inhibitory potential appears to be related to a compound unknown to date. Extracts from Tetilla leptoderma, Bathydorus cf. spinosus, Xestospongia sp., Rossella sp., Rossella cf. racovitzae and Halichondria osculum were hemolytic, with the last two also showing moderate cytotoxic potential. The antibacterial tests showed significantly greater activities of the extracts of these Antarctic sponges towards ecologically relevant bacteria from sea water and from Arctic ice. This indicates their ecological relevance for inhibition of bacterial microfouling.