A crude methanolic extract of the Indonesian sponge Clathria bulbotoxa showed a potent cytotoxic activity against the human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells. An investigation of the active components led to the isolation of three new compounds named crambescidins 345 (1), 361 (2), and 373 (3), together with the known related metabolites crambescidins 359 (4), 657 (5), and 800 (6). The structures of the compounds were determined by spectroscopic analysis. These compounds 1-4 that possess a simple pentacyclic guanidine core exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against the A431 cells with the IC50 values of 7.0, 2.5, 0.94, and 3.1 μM, respectively, while the known compounds 5 and 6 that possess a long aliphatic side chain were found to be significantly cytotoxic. On the other hand, in an anti-oomycete activity test against the fungus-like plant pathogen Phytophthora capsici, 1-4 showed a higher activity than that of 5 and 6, suggesting that the long aliphatic side chain plays a significant role for cytotoxicity, but is not effective or suppressive for anti-oomycete activity.
Keywords: Clathria bulbotoxa; Indonesian sponge; anti-oomycete activity; crambescidin; cytotoxicity.