Three new sesquiterpene aminoquinones from a Vietnamese Spongia sp. and their biological activities

Abstract

Sesquiterpenoid quinones with remarkable properties, such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antitumor, antiangiogenic, and differentiation-inducing activities, have reportedly been isolated from the marine sponge genera Dysidea, Spongia, and Dactylospongia. In our continuing search for bioactive compounds from marine sponges, three new sesquiterpenoid quinones, langcoquinones D–F (1–3), were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of Spongia sp. collected from Vietnam. Their chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic analyses. The newly isolated compounds 1–3 were assessed for their antibacterial activities against Gram-positive bacteria, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, and Gram-negative bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli, as well as their cytotoxic activities against three human cancer cell lines (A549, lung cancer; MCF7, breast cancer; HeLa, cervical cancer) and a human normal cell line (WI-38 fibroblast). All compounds were inactive against the Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, langcoquinones E (2) and F (3) lacked antibacterial activities against the Gram-positive bacteria and cytotoxic activities against the tested cell lines. However, langcoquinone D (1) exhibited good antibacterial activities against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, with MIC values of 12.5 and 25.0 µM, respectively. Furthermore, 1 exhibited significant cytotoxic activities against three human cancer cell lines (A549, lung cancer; MCF7, breast cancer; HeLa, cervical cancer) and a human normal cell line (WI-38 fibroblast).