Structure modification, antialgal, antiplasmodial, and toxic evaluations of a series of new marine-derived 14-membered resorcylic acid lactone derivatives

Wei-Feng Xu; Na-Na Wu; Yan-Wei Wu; Yue-Xuan Qi; Mei-Yan Wei; Laura M Pineda; Michelle G Ng; Carmenza Spadafora; Ji-Yong Zheng; Ling Lu; Chang-Yun Wang; Yu-Cheng Gu; Chang-Lun Shao

doi:10.1007/s42995-021-00103-0

Structure modification, antialgal, antiplasmodial, and toxic evaluations of a series of new marine-derived 14-membered resorcylic acid lactone derivatives

Mar Life Sci Technol. 2021 Jun 28;4(1):88-97. doi: 10.1007/s42995-021-00103-0. eCollection 2022 Feb.

Authors

Wei-Feng Xu^{1

2

3}, Na-Na Wu^{1

2

3}, Yan-Wei Wu^{1

2}, Yue-Xuan Qi^{1

2

3}, Mei-Yan Wei^{1

2}, Laura M Pineda⁴, Michelle G Ng⁴, Carmenza Spadafora⁴, Ji-Yong Zheng³, Ling Lu^{1

2}, Chang-Yun Wang^{1

2}, Yu-Cheng Gu⁵, Chang-Lun Shao^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, the Ministry of Education of China, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003 China.
² Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266237 China.
³ State Key Laboratory for Marine Corrosion and Protection, Luoyang Ship Material Research Institute (LSMRI), Qingdao, 266237 China.
⁴ Center of Cellular and Molecular Biology of Diseases, Instituto de Investigaciones Científcas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología, City of Knowledge, Clayton, Apartado 0816-02852 Panama.
⁵ Syngenta Jealott's Hill International Research Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG42 6EY UK.

Abstract

Marine natural products play critical roles in the chemical defense of many marine organisms and are essential, reputable sources of successful drug leads. Sixty-seven 14-membered resorcylic acid lactone derivatives 3-27 and 30-71 of the natural product zeaenol (1) isolated from the marine-derived fungus Cochliobolus lunatus were semisynthesized by chlorination, acylation, esterification, and acetalization in one to three steps. The structures of these new derivatives were established by HRESIMS and NMR techniques. All the compounds (1-71) were evaluated for their antialgal and antiplasmodial activities. Among them, 14 compounds displayed antifouling activities against adhesion of the fouling diatoms. In particular, 9 and 34 exhibited strong and selective inhibitory effects against the diatoms Navicula laevissima and Navicula exigua (EC₅₀ = 6.67 and 8.55 μmol/L), respectively, which were similar in efficacy to those of the positive control SeaNine 211 (EC₅₀ = 2.90 and 9.74 μmol/L). More importantly, 38, 39, and 69-71 showed potent antiplasmodial activities against Plasmodium falciparum with IC₅₀ values ranging from 3.54 to 9.72 μmol/L. Very interestingly, the five antiplasmodial derivatives displayed non-toxicity in the cytotoxicity assays and the zebrafish embryos model, thus, representing potential promising antiplasmodial drug agents. The preliminary structure-activity relationships indicated that biphenyl substituent at C-2, acetonide at positions C-5' and C-6', and tri- or tetra-substituted of acyl groups increased the antiplasmodial activity. Therefore, combining evaluation of chemical ecology with pharmacological models will be implemented as a systematic strategy, not only for environmentally friendly antifoulants but also for structurally novel drugs.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42995-021-00103-0.

Keywords: 14-Membered resorcylic acid lactone; Antialgal activity; Antiplasmodial activity; Marine natural product; Semisynthesis; Zeaenol.