Isolation and Assessment of the in Vitro Anti-Tumor Activity of Smenothiazole A and B, Chlorinated Thiazole-Containing Peptide/Polyketides from the Caribbean Sponge, Smenospongia aurea

Abstract

The study of the secondary metabolites contained in the organic extract of Caribbean sponge Smenospongia aurea led to the isolation of smenothiazole A (3) and B (4), hybrid peptide/polyketide compounds. Assays performed using four solid tumor cell lines showed that smenothiazoles exert a potent cytotoxic activity at nanomolar levels, with selectivity over ovarian cancer cells and a pro-apoptotic mechanism.

Keywords

• Smenospongia aurea
• marine natural products
• thiazole
• structure elucidation
• anti-tumor lead molecules
• smenamides
• solid tumor cell lines
• apoptosis
• MTT assays