Screening for Small Molecule Inhibitors of BMP-Induced Osteoblastic Differentiation from Indonesian Marine Invertebrates.

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare congenital disorder with heterotopic ossification (HO) in soft tissues. The abnormal activation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling by a mutant activin receptor-like kinase-2 (ALK2) leads to the development of HO in FOP patients, and, thus, BMP signaling inhibitors are promising therapeutic applications for FOP. In the present study, we screened extracts of 188 Indonesian marine invertebrates for small molecular inhibitors of BMP-induced alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, a marker of osteoblastic differentiation in a C2C12 cell line stably expressing ALK2(R206H) (C2C12(R206H) cells), and identified five marine sponges with potent ALP inhibitory activities. The activity-guided purification of an EtOH extract of marine sponge Dysidea sp. (No. 256) resulted in the isolation of dysidenin (1), herbasterol (2), and stellettasterol (3) as active components. Compounds 1-3 inhibited ALP activity in C2C12(R206H) cells with IC50 values of 2.3, 4.3, and 4.2 µM, respectively, without any cytotoxicity, even at 18.4-21.4 µM. The direct effects of BMP signaling examined using the Id1WT4F-luciferase reporter assay showed that compounds 1-3 did not decrease the reporter activity, suggesting that they inhibit the downstream of the Smad transcriptional step in BMP signaling.

The role of aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase in bacillamide C biosynthesis by Bacillus atrophaeus C89.

For biosynthesis of bacillamide C by Bacillus atrophaeus C89 associated with South China sea sponge Dysidea avara, it is hypothesized that decarboxylation from L-tryptophan to tryptamine could be performed before amidation by the downstream aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) to the non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) gene cluster for biosynthesizing bacillamide C. The structural analysis of decarboxylases' known substrates in KEGG database and alignment analysis of amino acid sequence of AADC have suggested that L-tryptophan and L-phenylalanine are the potential substrates of AADC. The enzymatic kinetic experiment of the recombinant AADC proved that L-tryptophan is a more reactive substrate of AADC than L-phenylalanine. Meanwhile, the AADC-catalyzed conversion of L-tryptophan into tryptamine was confirmed by means of HPLC and LC/MS. Thus during bacillamide C biosynthesis, the decarboxylation of L-tryptophan to tryptamine is likely conducted first under AADC catalysis, followed by the amidation of tryptamine with the carboxylic product of NRPS gene cluster.

In situ aquaculture methods for Dysidea avara (Demospongiae, Porifera) in the northwestern Mediterranean.

Marine sponges produce secondary metabolites that can be used as a natural source for the design of new drugs and cosmetics. There is, however, a supply problem with these natural substances for research and eventual commercialisation of the products. In situ sponge aquaculture is nowadays one of the most reliable methods to supply pharmaceutical companies with sufficient quantities of the target compound. In this study, we focus on the aquaculture of the sponge Dysidea avara (Schmidt, 1862), which produces avarol, a sterol with interesting pharmaceutical attributes. The soft consistency of this species makes the traditional culture method based on holding explants on ropes unsuitable. We have tested alternative culture methods for D. avara and optimized the underwater structures to hold the sponges to be used in aquaculture. Explants of this sponge were mounted on horizontal ropes, inside small cages or glued to substrates. Culture efficiency was evaluated by determination of sponge survival, growth rates, and bioactivity (as an indication of production of the target metabolite). While the cage method was the best method for explant survival, the glue method was the best one for explant growth and the rope method for bioactivity.

Total synthesis of the chlorinated marine natural product dysamide B.

[Structure: see text] Two approaches to the synthesis of (2S,4S)-5,5-dichloroleucine are compared, and the parent amino acid was used in the first total synthesis of the polychlorinated marine natural product, dysamide B. A key step was the lead tetraacetate-mediated decarboxylation of an alpha,alpha-dichloro acid in the presence of 1,4-cyclohexadiene to generate the dichloromethyl group.

Speciation and biosynthetic variation in four dictyoceratid sponges and their cyanobacterial symbiont, Oscillatoria spongeliae.

Four species of marine sponges (Phylum Porifera, Order Dictyoceratida), which contain the filamentous cyanobacterial symbiont Oscillatoria spongeliae, were collected from four locations in Palau. The halogenated natural products associated with the symbiont were characterized from each sample, revealing that each species contained either chlorinated peptides, brominated diphenyl ethers, or no halogenated compounds. Analysis of the host sponges and the symbionts indicated that each species of sponge contained a distinct strain of morphologically similar cyanobacteria. Although cospeciation may be present in this group, we have identified that at least one host switching event has occurred in this symbiosis. Only the strain of O. spongeliae in the sponge containing the chlorinated compounds possessed genes involved in the biosynthesis of chlorinated leucine precursors, indicating that the chemical variation observed in these animals has a genetic foundation.