Project description:Crude extracts of Moorea producens JHB (with blank solvent controls), grown under normal conditions or with excess sodium iodide, and run by LCMS on a Thermo LTQ FT and LCQ Advantage, respectively. Isolated pure compound mzXML files from the LTQ FT by direct nanomate injection.
Project description:The tropical marine cyanobacterium Moorena producens JHB is a prolific source of secondary metabolites with potential biomedical utility. Previous studies of this strain led to the discovery of several novel compounds such as the hectochlorins and jamaicamides; however, bioinformatic analyses of its genome suggested that there were many more cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters yet to be characterized. To potentially stimulate the production of novel compounds from this strain, it was co-cultured with Candida albicans. From this experiment, we observed the increased production of a new compound that we characterize here as hectoramide B. Bioinformatic analysis of the M. producens JHB genome enabled the identification of a putative biosynthetic gene cluster responsible for hectoramide B biosynthesis. This work demonstrates that co-culture competition experiments can be a valuable method to facilitate the discovery of novel natural products from cyanobacteria.
Project description:Three new compounds of the malyngamide series, 6,8-di-O-acetylmalyngamide 2 (1), 6-O-acetylmalyngamide 2 (2), and N-demethyl-isomalyngamide I (3), were isolated from the marine cyanobacterium Moorea producens. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and chemical derivatization and degradation. These compounds stimulated glucose uptake in cultured L6 myotubes. In particular, 6,8-di-O-acetylmalyngamide 2 (1) showed potent activity and activated adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK).
Project description:Lyngbyatoxin A from the marine cyanobacterium Moorea producens (formerly Lyngbya majuscula) is known as the causative agent of "swimmer's itch" with its highly inflammatory effect. A new toxic compound was isolated along with lyngbyatoxin A from an ethyl acetate extract of M. producens collected from Hawaii. Analyses of HR-ESI-MS and NMR spectroscopies revealed the isolated compound had the same planar structure with that of lyngbyatoxin A. The results of optical rotation and CD spectra indicated that the compound was a new lyngbyatoxin A derivative, 12-epi-lyngbyatoxin A (1). While 12-epi-lyngbyatoxin A showed comparable toxicities with lyngbyatoxin A in cytotoxicity and crustacean lethality tests, it showed more than 100 times lower affinity for protein kinase C? (PKC?) using the PKC?-C1B peptide when compared to lyngbyatoxin A.