Dopamine-Derived Guanidine Alkaloids from a Didemnidae Tunicate: Isolation, Synthesis, and Biological Activities

J Org Chem. 2024 May 3;89(9):5977-5987. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.3c02765. Epub 2024 Apr 1.

Abstract

Mellpaladines A-C (1-3) and dopargimine (4) are dopamine-derived guanidine alkaloids isolated from a specimen of Palauan Didemnidae tunicate as possible modulators of neuronal receptors. In this study, we isolated the dopargimine derivative 1-carboxydopargimine (5), three additional mellpaladines D-F (6-8), and serotodopalgimine (9), along with a dimer of serotonin, 5,5'-dihydroxy-4,4'-bistryptamine (10). The structures of these compounds were determined based on spectrometric and spectroscopic analyses. Compound 4 and its congeners dopargine (11), nordopargimine (15), and 2-(6,7-dimethoxy-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-1-yl)ethan-1-amine (16) were synthetically prepared for biological evaluations. The biological activities of all isolated compounds were evaluated in comparison with those of 1-4 using a mouse behavioral assay upon intracerebroventricular injection, revealing key functional groups in the dopargimines and mellpaladines for in vivo behavioral toxicity. Interestingly, these alkaloids also emerged during a screen of our marine natural product library aimed at identifying antiviral activities against dengue virus, SARS-CoV-2, and vesicular stomatitis Indiana virus (VSV) pseudotyped with Ebola virus glycoprotein (VSV-ZGP).

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alkaloids* / chemical synthesis
  • Alkaloids* / chemistry
  • Alkaloids* / isolation & purification
  • Alkaloids* / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • Antiviral Agents / chemical synthesis
  • Antiviral Agents / chemistry
  • Antiviral Agents / isolation & purification
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology
  • Dopamine* / chemistry
  • Dopamine* / pharmacology
  • Guanidine / chemistry
  • Guanidine / pharmacology
  • Guanidines / chemistry
  • Guanidines / isolation & purification
  • Guanidines / pharmacology
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Molecular Structure
  • SARS-CoV-2 / drug effects
  • Urochordata* / chemistry

Substances

  • Alkaloids
  • Dopamine
  • Guanidine
  • Antiviral Agents
  • Guanidines