SARCODICTYINS

Molecular Weight (Sarcodictyin A): 496.595 g/mol
Molecular Formula (Sarcodictyin A): C₂₈H₃₆N₂O₆

Source: The corals Sarcodictyon roseum, Eleutherobia aurea, and others (CNIDARIA)
Activity: Tubulin interactive agent
Status: Preclinical

In the mid 1980s, natural products called sarcodictyins were isolated from two Mediterranean coral species, Sarcodictyon roseum and Eleutherobia aurea. Although the were shown to have an interesting structural configuration, initial screens determined that these compounds lacked discernable bioactivity. This assessment was set aside with the 1997 discovery of sarcodictyin activity as tubulin interactive agents. In 2003, A new cytotoxic diterpene, (Z)-sarcodictyin A, was reported isolated from the Japanese soft coral Bellonella albiflora.

Preclinical research focusing on the sarcodictyins is being conducted by drug company Pharmacia-Upjohn, who were first to report tubulin binding by these compounds.

These compounds have also been the subject of intriguing combinatorial synthetic research in which novel hybrid molecules were produced by combining the base structures of sarcodictyins with those of another cnidarian-derived class of tubulin interactive natural products, the eleutherobins.

NCBI PubChem compound summary page - [ LINK ]

NCBI PubMed biomedical literature citations and abstracts - [ LINK ]

References

Newman DJ, and GM Cragg. 2004. Advanced Preclinical and Clinical Trials of Natural Products and Related Compounds From Marine Sources. Current Medicinal Chemistry 11:1693-1713.

Nakao Y, Yoshida S, Matsunaga S, and N Fusetani. 2003. (Z)-sarcodictyin A, a new highly cytotoxic diterpenoid from the soft coral Bellonella albiflora. J Nat Prod. 2003 66:524-7.