Irma E. Soria-Mercado

Palmyrolide A, an Unusually Stabilized Neuroactive Macrolide from Palmyra Atoll Cyanobacteria

Palmyrolide A (1) is a new neuroactive macrolide isolated from a marine cyanobacterial assemblage composed of Leptolyngbya cf. and Oscillatoria spp. collected from Palmyra Atoll. It features a rare N-methyl enamide and an intriguing t-butyl branch; the latter renders the adjacent lactone ester bond resistant to hydrolysis. Consistent with its significant suppression of calcium influx in cerebrocortical neurons (IC(50) = 3.70 μM), palmyrolide A (1) showed a relatively potent sodium channel blocking activity in neuro-2a cells (IC(50) = 5.2 μM), without appreciable cytotoxicity.

Antibacterial and anticancer activity of seaweeds and bacteria associated with their surface

Marine algae and bacteria are an inexhaustible source of chemical compounds that produce a wide variety of biologically active secondary metabolites. Marine ...

Alotamide A, a Novel Neuropharmacological Agent from the Marine Cyanobacterium Lyngbya bouillonii

Alotamide A (1), a structurally intriguing cyclic depsipeptide, was isolated from the marine mat-forming cyanobacterium Lyngbya bouillonii collected in Papua New Guinea. It features three contiguous peptidic residues and an unsaturated heptaketide with oxidations and methylations unlike those found in any other marine cyanobacterial metabolite. Pure alotamide A (1) displays an unusual calcium influx activation profile in murine cerebrocortical neurons with an EC50 of 4.18 microM.

Bioactive Compounds from Bacteria Associated to Marine Algae

Since ancient times, humans have sought to satisfy their needs, one of which is, without a doubt, to stay alive. The fear of getting sick and dying, led man to study the organisms that surround him, discovering that the chemicals compounds present in some of them could be beneficial for treating illness. Thus; began the chemistry of the natural products; biotechnology area for human welfare. Several of these organisms produce secondary metabolites, which are part of a wide variety of natural compounds used by humans to combat diseases. Secondary metabolites are defined as organic compounds formed as bio products in organisms, not directly related to growth, development and normal reproduction of thereof. Some examples are fibers (cotton, silk, wool); fuels (oil and natural gas), and medicines (antibiotics, hormones, vaccines).

Antitumor activity of Actinobacteria isolated in marine sediment from Todos Santos Bay, Baja California, Mexico

Se realizo el estudio de la bioactividad de las Actinobacterias cultivables a partir de sedimento marino de la Bahia de Todos Santos, Mexico, y se identificaron mediante las secuencias del gen 16S ARNr. Las cepas bacterianas fueron cultivadas en 1 L de medio liquido A1 y se constato su crecimiento en presencia de agua de mar. Los extractos organicos de los cultivos se extrajeron con Amberlita XAD-7 eluida con acetona. Los extractos fueron separados por cromatografia en gel de silice C-18. Los extractos crudos y las fracciones se probaron contra celulas de cancer de colon HCT-116. En total, 26 cepas fueron cultivadas e identificadas, divididas en 10 unidades taxonomicas operacionales (UTOs) con 100% de identidad de sus secuencias, representando tres familias del orden Actinomycetales, pertenecientes a los generos Streptomyces (77%), Micromonospora (20%) y Nocardia (3%); 6 de estos UTOs no habian sido reportados previamente. Diecinueve por ciento de los extractos crudos del genero Streptomyces mostraron actividad citotoxica en un rango de IC50 de 69,0 a ≤ 0,076 mg·-1. Las fracciones mas activas contenian los compuestos monactin y derivados de pamamicina, los cuales fueron identificados por su peso molecular y sus patrones de fragmentacion.

Compounds isolated from Salinispora arenicola of the Gulf of California, México

La actinobacteria marina AMS370, identificada mediante comparacion de las secuencias del gen 16S del ARNr como Salinispora arenicola, fue aislada a partir de sedimento del Golfo de California, Mexico. De su extracto semi-polar, se aislaron 8 compuestos conocidos: acido-4-Hidroxi-fenil acetico (1), 5-Metil-2-metilen-2,3-dihidro-1H-pirimidin-4-ona (2), 1H-Pirimidin-2,4-diona (3), acido-3-amino-5-hidroxi-benzoico (4), 2-(4-Amino-imidazol-[4,5-d]piridazin-1-il)-5-hidroximetil-4-metil-tetrahidro -furan-3-ol (5), Acrilato de 3-(4-Hidroxi-genil)-metilo (6), 3-Bencil-6-isobutil-piperazin-2,5-diona (7) y 5,8-epidioxi-(22E,24R)-ergosta-6,22-dien-3-ol (Peroxido de Ergosterol) (8). La identificacion quimica fue realizada mediante comparacion de sus espectros de RMN con los espectros de los compuestos originales. Esta seria la primera ocasion que el compuesto 4 se reporta como un producto natural a partir del genero Salinispora. El extracto crudo y todas sus fracciones fueron ensayadas contra Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella sp. y Candida albicans para probar su actividad antibiotica y antifungica en el caso de la ultima especie. Asimismo se evaluo su actividad citotoxica frente a las lineas celulares de cancer de mama (MCF-7), cervicouterino (HeLa) y colorectal (HCT-116). Solamente el extracto crudo semipolar y las fracciones 5.1 y 5.2 resultaron activas contra Klebsiella pneumoniae y Staphylococcus aureus.

Air, Water and Soil: Resources for Drug Discovery

Drug discovery is the process by which new candidate drugs are discovered. The chemical compounds that are present in plants and animals have been an important source of new bioactive compounds. Also, we can found organisms that live in air, water and soil that we don`t see, but posses a great variety of chemical that we can use to create new medicines. Bioactive compounds offer an enormous diversity of chemical structures with strong biolog‐ ic effect; this is one of the reasons why natural products research cannot be replaced by syn‐ thesis chemistry as a source for new bioactive compounds. Actually, more than the half of currently used medicines came from natural sources or are related to them, specifically in the situation of anticancer drugs that more than 60% belongs from nature [1].