Australindolones, New Aminopyrimidine Substituted Indolone Alkaloids from an Antarctic Tunicate Synoicum sp.

• Published in: Marine Drugs
• Main Authors: Sofia Kokkaliari, Kim Pham, Nargess Shahbazi, Laurent Calcul, Lukasz Wojtas, Nerida G. Wilson, Alexander D. Crawford, Bill J. Baker
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: ascidians; indole alkaloids; zebrafish; meridianins; Biology (General); QH301-705.5; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/md20030196; https://doaj.org/article/76fea00d4e554751a6dcf80dc943ada0

Five new alkaloids have been isolated from the lipophilic extract of the Antarctic tunicate Synoicum sp. Deep-sea specimens of Synoicum sp. were collected during a 2011 cruise of the R/V Nathanial B. Palmer to the southern Scotia Arc, Antarctica. Crude extracts from the invertebrates obtained during the cruise were screened in a zebrafish-based phenotypic assay. The Synoicum sp. extract induced embryonic dysmorphology characterized by axis truncation, leading to the isolation of aminopyrimidine substituted indolone ( 1 – 4 ) and indole ( 5 – 12 ) alkaloids. While the primary bioactivity tracked with previously reported meridianins A–G ( 5 – 11 ), further investigation resulted in the isolation and characterization of australindolones A–D ( 1 – 4 ) and the previously unreported meridianin H ( 12 ).