Deborah M. Roll

Natural Product Peptides from Marine Organisms

This chapter reviews the literature on peptides and modified peptides isolated from marine animals and plants that appear to be products of secondary metabolic pathways (i.e., do not appear to have a primary metabolic function). Although the focus is towards biologically active peptides, marine peptides with unique stuctures are also discussed, regardless of whether they have reported biological activity. Polypeptides, e.g., enzymes, structural proteins and receptor molecules will be specifically excluded from this discussion, as they are more appropriate for a biochemistry review article. For the purpose of this review, peptides will be defined as compounds derived biosynthetically from the condensation of at least two amino acids to produce a peptide (amide) bond, which may or may not have undergone further modification.

The lecanindoles, nonsteroidal progestins from the terrestrial fungus Verticillium lecanii 6144.

Four new indolosesquiterpenes, lecanindoles A-D (1-4), were isolated from fermentations of the terrestrial fungus Verticillium lecanii 6144. The structures of compounds 1-4 were elucidated from analysis of spectroscopic data. Compound 2 was reduced to give 4 and its isomer 5. Compound 4 was found to be a potent and selective progesterone receptor agonist with an EC50 of 1.1 +/- 0.4 nM in a cell-based luciferase reporter assay.

Citorellamine, a new bromoindole derivative from polycitorella mariae

Abstract The structure of citorellamine, isolated from the tunicate Polycitorella mariae , has been deduced from spectroscopic analyses and chemical transformations.