Metabolic Profiling as a Screening Tool for Cytotoxic Compounds: Identification of 3-Alkyl Pyridine Alkaloids from Sponges Collected at a Shallow Water Hydrothermal Vent Site North of Iceland

• Published in: Marine Drugs
• Main Authors: Einarsdóttir, Eydís, Magnúsdóttir, Manuela, Astarita, Giuseppe, Köck, Matthias, Ögmundsdóttir, Helga M., Þorsteinsdóttir, Margrét, Rapp, Hans, Omarsdottir, Sesselja, Paglia, Giuseppe
• Other Authors: Lyfjafræðideild (HÍ), Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UI), Rannsóknarsetur í kerfislíffræði (HÍ), Center for Systems Biology (UI), Læknadeild (HÍ), Faculty of Medicine (UI), Heilbrigðisvísindasvið (HÍ), School of Health Sciences (UI), Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ), School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI), Háskóli Íslands, University of Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2017
• Subjects: Marine natural products; Sponges; Metabolomics; Ion mobility; Haliclona rosea; Sjávarafurðir; Svampdýr; Efnaskipti; Iceland
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11815/340; https://doi.org/10.3390/md15020052

Twenty-eight sponge specimens were collected at a shallow water hydrothermal vent site north of Iceland. Extracts were prepared and tested in vitro for cytotoxic activity, and eight of them were shown to be cytotoxic. A mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics approach was used to determine the chemical composition of the extracts. This analysis highlighted clear differences in the metabolomes of three sponge specimens, and all of them were identified as Haliclona (Rhizoniera) rosea (Bowerbank, 1866). Therefore, these specimens were selected for further investigation. Haliclona rosea metabolomes contained a class of potential key compounds, the 3-alkyl pyridine alkaloids (3-APA) responsible for the cytotoxic activity of the fractions. Several 3-APA compounds were tentatively identified including haliclamines, cyclostellettamines, viscosalines and viscosamines. Among these compounds, cyclostellettamine P was tentatively identified for the first time by using ion mobility MS in time-aligned parallel (TAP) fragmentation mode. In this work, we show the potential of applying metabolomics strategies and in particular the utility of coupling ion mobility with MS for the molecular characterization of sponge specimens. The authors would like to thank Erlendur Bogason for his assistance in sample collection as well as being the "protector" of Strytan, the hydrothermal vent site. This project was funded by the Eimskip University Fund, The University of Iceland Research Fund, and the Icelandic Research Fund (grant no.: 110403021). Peer Reviewed