Cembranoids of Soft Corals:Recent Updates and Their Biological Activities

Soft corals are well-known as excellent sources of marine-derived natural products.Among them,members of the genera Sar-cophyton,Sinularia,and Lobophytum are especially attractive targets for marine natural product research.In this review,we reported the marine-derived natural products called cembranoids isolated from soft corals,including the genera Sarcophyton,Sinularia,and Lobophytum.Here,we reviewed 72 reports published between 2016 and 2020,comprising 360 compounds,of which 260 are new compounds and 100 are previously known compounds with newly recognized activities.The novelty of the organic molecules and their relevant biological activities,delivered by the year of publication,are presented.Among the genera presented in this report,Sarcophyton spp.produce the most cembranoid diterpenes;thus,they are considered as the most important soft corals for marine natural product research.Cembranoids display diverse biological activities,includ-ing anti-cancer,anti-bacterial,and anti-inflammatory.As cembranoids have been credited with a broad range of biological activities,they present a huge potential for the development of various drugs with potential health and ecological benefits.

Secondary metabolites and their biological activities in Indonesian soft coral of the genus Lobophytum

Objective: To investigate the antioxidant, antibacterial, antimalarial activities and cytotoxicity of the n-hexane, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and aqueous fractions from a crude extract of Lobophytum sp.Methods: This organism was collected from the Selayar Islands(South Sulawesi). The antioxidant activity was performed by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical scavenging method. All fractions from the crude extract of Lobophytum sp. were examined for their cytotoxicity using the brine shrimp lethality bioassay and heme polymerization inhibitory activity assay for antimalarial activity.Results: It was found that the ethyl acetate, n-butanol and aqueous fractions exhibited heme polymerization inhibitory activity with IC_(50) values of 11.7, 14.3 and 12.0 mg/m L,respectively, while the n-butanol fraction showed moderate antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity with IC_(50) values of 150.00 and 92.74 mg/m L, respectively.Conclusions: This study provides information on antioxidant, antibacterial and antimalarial activities as well as the cytotoxicity of all fractions from the crude extract of Lobophytum sp. This is a new report of antimalarial substances derived from Lobophytum sp.

Distribution and diversity of marine natural products from Indonesian marine organisms

Objective:To study the distribution and diversity of species and isolated molecules,according to their structure classes,from Indonesian marine organisms.Methods:This study was performed by using the SciFinder^(®)database,MarinLit and references from relevant articles from 1980 to 2014 which collected all the scientific publications dealing with the isolation of chemical compounds from Indonesian marine macroorganisms and microorganisms.Results:The discovery of novel compounds from Indonesian marine organisms gave us a result of a total of 78 papers.Alkaloids,terpenoids and peptides(84,67 and 15 new compounds,respectively)represented the three main chemical classes of compounds discovered from Indonesian marine organisms,and together with the other chemical classes showed a range of biological activities.Conclusions:The new marine compounds are mainly from sponges and soft corals.Alkaloids,terpenoids and peptides are the most prolific compounds isolated from Indonesian marine organisms.Most marine natural products from Indonesian organisms have been screened for anticancer or cytotoxicity activities.

Marine soft corals as source of lead compounds for anti-inflammatories

Marine soft corals are known to produce a wide array of secondary metabolites,particularly diterpenoids and steroids,and often characterized by uncommon structural features and potent bioactivities.The remarkable abundance and diversity of bioactive small molecule which have been isolated from soft corals have made these organisms an important source of new drug candidates for human diseases,particularly for their anti-inflammatory activity.In this paper,the authors reported anti-inflammatory marine natural products isolated from diverse species of soft corals determined in vitro by their inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-induced expression of inducible NO synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 in murine macrophage cells(RAW 264.7).