Isolation of cytotoxic sesterterpenoid suvanine from a tropical marine sponge

Abstract

In the course our research for the discovery of bioactive substances from marine sponges collected from Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia, we have encountered a sponge of which the extract exhibited significant cytotoxity against human leukemia cell line. A careful investigation of chemical composition revealed that the extract contains large amount of suvanine, a sesterterpene sulfate reported to have inhibitory activity against thrombin and trypsin. The IC50 value of suvanine was 31.6 μg/mL, which suggests that the cytotoxicity of the extract results from suvanine. Other sesterterpenoids expected to have structures analogous to suvanine were also obtained and their structures are under investigation.