Isolation and Characterization of Anti-Mycobacterial Natural Products from a Petrosia sp. Marine Sponge.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a dreadful infectious disease and a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, second in 2020 only to severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-Cov-2). With limited therapeutic options available and a rise in multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cases, it is critical to develop antibiotic drugs that display novel mechanisms of action. Bioactivity-guided fractionation employing an Alamar blue assay for Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv led to the isolation of duryne (13) from a marine sponge Petrosia sp. sampled in the Solomon Islands. Additionally, five new strongylophorine meroditerpene analogues (1-5) along with six known strongylophorines (6-12) were isolated from the bioactive fraction and characterized using MS and NMR spectroscopy, although only 13 exhibited antitubercular activity.

Marine Natural Products as Leads against SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Since early 2020, disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global pandemic, causing millions of infections and deaths worldwide. Despite rapid deployment of effective vaccines, it is apparent that the global community lacks multipronged interventions to combat viral infection and disease. A major limitation is the paucity of antiviral drug options representing diverse molecular scaffolds and mechanisms of action. Here we report the antiviral activities of three distinct marine natural products─homofascaplysin A (1), (+)-aureol (2), and bromophycolide A (3)─evidenced by their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication at concentrations that are nontoxic toward human airway epithelial cells. These compounds stand as promising candidates for further exploration toward the discovery of novel drug leads against SARS-CoV-2.

A blueprint for academic laboratories to produce SARS-CoV-2 quantitative RT-PCR test kits.

Widespread testing for the presence of the novel coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in individuals remains vital for controlling the COVID-19 pandemic prior to the advent of an effective treatment. Challenges in testing can be traced to an initial shortage of supplies, expertise, and/or instrumentation necessary to detect the virus by quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR), the most robust, sensitive, and specific assay currently available. Here we show that academic biochemistry and molecular biology laboratories equipped with appropriate expertise and infrastructure can replicate commercially available SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR test kits and backfill pipeline shortages. The Georgia Tech COVID-19 Test Kit Support Group, composed of faculty, staff, and trainees across the biotechnology quad at Georgia Institute of Technology, synthesized multiplexed primers and probes and formulated a master mix composed of enzymes and proteins produced in-house. Our in-house kit compares favorably with a commercial product used for diagnostic testing. We also developed an environmental testing protocol to readily monitor surfaces for the presence of SARS-CoV-2. Our blueprint should be readily reproducible by research teams at other institutions, and our protocols may be modified and adapted to enable SARS-CoV-2 detection in more resource-limited settings.