Jaine H. H. L. de Oliveira

Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of ingenamine G isolated from the Brazilian marine sponge Pachychalina alcaloidifera.

Marine sponges belonging to the order Haplosclerida are one of the more prolific sources of new natural products possessing various biological activities. The present study examined the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of ingenamine G, an alkaloid isolated from the Brazilian marine sponge Pachychalina alcaloidifera. Ingenamine G displayed a moderate cytotoxic activity against human proliferating lymphocytes evaluated by the MTT assay (IC(50) 15 microg/mL). The hemolytic assay showed that ingenamine G cytotoxic activity was not related to membrane disruption. The comet assay and chromosome aberration analysis were applied to determine the genotoxic and clastogenic potential of ingenamine G, respectively. Cultured human lymphocytes were treated with 5, 10, 15 and 20 microg/mL of ingenamine G during the G(1), G(1)/S, S (pulses of 1 and 6 h), and G(2) phases of the cell cycle. All tested concentrations were cytotoxic, reduced significantly the mitotic index, and were clastogenic in all phases of the cell cycle, especially in S phase. While an increase in DNA-strand breaks was observed starting with the concentration corresponding to the IC(50). The presence of genotoxicity and polyploidy during interphase and mitosis, respectively, suggests that ingenamine G at high concentrations is clastogenic and indirectly affects the construction of mitotic fuse.

Produtos naturais da ascídia Botrylloides giganteum, das esponjas Verongula gigantea, Ircinia felix, Cliona delitrix e do nudibrânquio Tambja eliora, da costa do Brasil

Two new marine metabolites, 3Z, 6Z, 9Z-dodecatrien-1-ol (1) from the ascidian Botrylloides giganteum and 4H-pyran-2ol acetate from the sponge Ircinia felix (4) are herein reported. The known bromotyrosine compounds, 2-(3,5-dibromo-4-methoxyphenyl)-N,N,N-dimethylethanammonium (2) and 2,6-dibromo-4-(2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl)phenol (3), have been isolated from the sponge Verongula gigantea. Serotonin (5) is reported for the first time from the sponge Cliona delitrix, and tambjamines A (15) and D (16) isolated as their respective salts from the nudibranch Tambja eliora. Only tambjamine D presented cytotoxicity against CEM (IC50 12.2 µg/mL) and HL60 (IC50 13.2 µg/mL) human leukemya cells, MCF-7 breast cancer cells (IC50 13.2 µg/mL), colon HCT-8 cancer cells (IC50 10.1 µg/mL) and murine melanoma B16 cancer cells (IC50 6.7 µg/mL).

Molecular orbital calculations, experimental and theoretical UV spectra of granulatimides and didemnimides, biologically active polycyclic heteroaromatic alkaloids from the ascidian Didemnum granulatum

Abstract A detailed computational study was performed for compounds granulatimide, isogranulatimide, and didemnimides A, D, and E, using the semiempirical Austin model 1 quantum chemical method. The electronic features and structural parameters were confronted with the inhibition of the G2 cell cycle checkpoint of mammalian cancer cells. All compounds were submitted to a rigorous conformational analysis using the Tripos 5.2 force field implemented in the Spartan 5.01 program. The electronic density in specific regions of the molecules appears to play a pivotal role towards activity. The molecular planarity creates a broad negative electrostatic potential on the two sides of the active compounds (granulatimide and isogralulatimide) and a positive potential in their central core, while the non-planar compounds (didemnimides A, D, and E, which are inactive) present an asymmetric potential scattered over the molecules. These electrostatic potential features are likely to be the modulator of hydrophobicity or lipophilicity of the compounds, which appear correlated with activity. The hydrogen attached to the N atom of the pyrrole moiety of indole is more positive for active compounds than for the inactive molecules. The theoretical electronic spectra were obtained for all compounds using the configuration interaction method, with the AM1 routine. All transitions present π→π∗ nature. The theoretical results are in good agreement with experimental values.