Biogenetic and biomimetic synthesis of natural bisditerpenoids: hypothesis and practices

Covering: up to March 2022Bisditerpenoids, or diterpenoid dimers, are a group of natural products with high structural variance, deriving from homo- or hetero-dimeric coupling of two diterpenoid units. They usually possess complex architectures resulting from the diversity of monomeric diterpenoids as building blocks and the dimerization processes. These compounds have attracted the attention of synthetic and biological scientists owing to the rarity of their natural origin and their significant biological activities. Herein, we provide a review highlighting some of the interesting bisditerpenoids reported since 1961 and showcase the chemical diversity in both their structures and biosynthesis, as well as their biological functions. This review focuses on the biosynthetic dimerization pathways of interesting molecules and their biomimetic synthesis, which may act as useful inspiration for the discovery and synthesis of more bisditerpenoids and further pharmacological investigations.

Anti-barnacle biofouling coatings for the protection of marine vessels: synthesis and progress

Marine biofouling has gnawed both mobile and non-mobile marine structures since time immemorial, leading to the deterioration of designed operational capabilities as well as a loss of valuable economic revenues. Mitigation of biofouling has been the primary focus of researchers and scientists from across the globe to save billions of dollars wasted due to the biological fouling of marine structures. The availability of an appropriate environment along with favorable substrata initiates biofilm formation within a few minutes. The crucial element in establishing a gelatinous biofilm is the excreted metabolites of destructive nature and exopolymeric substances (EPSs). These help in securing as well as signaling numerous foulants to establish themselves on this substrate. The larvae of various benthic invertebrates adhere to these suitable surfaces and transform from juveniles to adult barnacles depending upon the environment. Despite biofouling being characteristically witnessed for a month or lengthier timeframe, the preliminary phases of the fouling process typically transpire on a much lesser timescale. A few natural and synthetic additives had demonstrated excellent non-toxic anti barnacle establishment capability; however, further development into commercial products is still far-fetched. This review collates the specific anti-barnacle coatings, emphasizing natural additives, their sources of extraction, general life cycle analysis, and concluding future perspectives of this niche product.

Biological evaluation of gallic acid and quercetin derived from Ceriops tagal: insights from extensive in vitro and in silico studies

Gallic acid (PubChem CID: 370) and quercetin (PubChem CID: 5280343) are major phenolic compounds in many mangrove plants that have been related to health cure. In the present study, the active fractions namely gallic acid (1) and quercetin (2) were isolated from the methanolic extract of leaves of Ceriops tagal in a Tropical mangrove ecosystem of Andaman and Nicobar Island (ANI), India. The chemical structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis: Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ¹H, ¹³C Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The anticancer activity of isolated compounds (1) and (2) were evaluated by in vitro assays against two human cancer cell lines namely, HeLa (Cervical) and MDA-MB231 (Breast) cancer cells revealed that IC₅₀ values of gallic acid (HeLa: 4.179197 ± 0.45 µg/ml; MDA-MB231: 80.0427 ± 0.19 µg/ml at 24 h) and quercetin (HeLa: 99.914 ± 0.18 µg/ml; MDA-MB231: 18.288382 ± 0.12 µg/ml at 24 h), respectively. Antioxidant properties of gallic acid (1) and quercetin (2) are found to be IC₅₀ value of 0.77 ± 0.41 µg/ml and 1.897 ± 0.81 µg/ml, respectively. Molecular docking results explained that gallic acid (1) and quercetin (2) showed estimated binding free energy (ΔG) of -5.4 and -6.9 kcal/mol towards drug target Bcl-B protein, respectively. The estimated inhibition constant (Ki) for these two molecules are 110 and 8.75 μM, respectively. The MD simulation additionally supported that quercetin molecule is significantly improved the structural stability of Bcl-B protein. The present study provides key insights about the importance of polyphenols, and thus leads to open the therapeutic route for anti-cancer drug discovery process.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Relationships between degree of polymerization and antioxidant activities: a study on proanthocyanidins from the leaves of a medicinal mangrove plant Ceriops tagal

Tannins from the leaves of a medicinal mangrove plant, Ceriops tagal, were purified and fractionated on Sephadex LH-20 columns. ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (¹³C-NMR), reversed/normal high performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI MS) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDT-TOF MS) analysis showed that the tannins were predominantly B-type procyanidins with minor A-type linkages, galloyl and glucosyl substitutions, and a degree of polymerization (DP) up to 33. Thirteen subfractions of the procyanidins were successfully obtained by a modified fractionation method, and their antioxidant activities were investigated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging capacity and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) method. All these subfractions exhibited potent antioxidant activities, and eleven of them showed significantly different mean DP (mDP) ranging from 1.43±0.04 to 31.77±1.15. Regression analysis demonstrated that antioxidant activities were positively correlative with mDP when around mDP <10, while dropped and then remained at a level similar to mDP = 5 with around 95 µg ml⁻¹ for DPPH scavenging activity and 4 mmol AAE g⁻¹ for FRAP value.

Metabolites and bioactivities of Rhizophoraceae mangroves

This review examines the chemical compositions and bioactivities of mangrove plants belonging to the Rhizophoraceae family. The Rhizophoraceae family of true mangrove plants is the most common and is also widely distributed species. It consists of 24 species across four genera. Of the 24 species, 12 species remain unexamined for their phytochemical constituents. There have been 268 metabolites reported from 16 species. The key phytochemical constituents identified across the family are the diterpenoids and triterpenoids. The major diterpenoids include pimaranes, beyeranes, kaurenes, dolabranes and labdanes whereas the significant triterpenoids are lupanes, dammaranes and oleananes. Disulphides, dolabranes and labdanes are considered to be the chemotaxonomic markers of the genera Bruguiera, Ceriops and Rhizophora respectively.

Characterization of terpenoids from the root of Ceriops tagal with antifouling activity

One new dimeric diterpenoid, 8(14)-enyl-pimar-2'(3')-en-4'(18')-en-15'(16')-endolabr- 16,15,2',3'-oxoan-16-one (1) and five known terpenoids: Tagalsin C (2), Tagalsin I (3), lup-20(29)-ene-3β,28-diol (4), 3-oxolup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid (5) and 28-hydroxylup- 20(29)-en-3-one (6) were isolated from the roots of the mangrove plant Ceriops tagal. Their structures and relative stereochemistry were elucidated by means of extensive NMR, IR and MS analysis. The antifouling activity against larval settlement of the barnacle Balanus albicostatus were evaluated using capsaicin as a positive control. All these terpenoids exhibited antifouling activity against cyprid larvae of the barnacle without significant toxicity. The structure-activity relationship results demonstrated that the order of antifouling activity was diterpenoid (Compound 2) > triterpenoid (Compounds 4, 5 and 6) > dimeric diterpenoid (Compounds 1 and 3). The functional groups on the C-28 position of lupane triterpenoid significantly affect the antifouling activity. The diterpenoid dimmer with two identical diterpenoid subunits might display more potent antifouling activity than one with two different diterpenoid subunits. The stability test showed that Compounds 2, 4, 5 and 6 remained stable over 2-month exposure under filtered seawater.

Antifeedant diterpenoids against Tribolium castaneum from the stems and twigs of Ceriops tagal (Rhizophoraceae)

The screening of several Chinese mangrove plants for insecticidal principles showed that ethanol extract of Ceriops tagal stems and twigs possessed significant feeding deterrent activity against the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Family: Rhizophoraceae). From the ethanol extract, three feeding deterrent diterpenoids were isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation. The compounds were identified as tagalsin A, B, and H on the basis of their phytochemical and spectral data. Tagalsin A, B, and H exhibited strong feeding deterrent activity against T. castaneum adults with EC₅₀ values of 375.3 ppm, 277.3 ppm, and 285.45 ppm, respectively.

Dolabranes from the Chinese Mangrove, Ceriops tagal

Six new dolabranes, named tagalsins P-U (1-6), were isolated from stems and twigs of a Chinese mangrove, Ceriops tagal, along with seven known dolabranes, an abietane, and a pimarane. The structures of these compounds were established on the basis of spectroscopic data or comparison with data in the literature. The relative configurations of tagalsins P and Q (1, 2), two new 15,16-dinor-dolabranes, were confirmed by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. This is the first report of 16-nordolabranes and 15,16-dinordolabranes from plants of the Ceriops genus. Tagalsins Q (2), R (3), and U (6) showed moderate antifeedant activity against the third-instar larvae of Brontispa longissima at a concentration of 1 mg/mL. However, none of the new dolabranes exhibited significant activity against human cancer cell lines.

Three new lupane-type triterpenes from Ceriops tagal

Three new lupane-type triterpenes, 3 alpha-O-trans-feruloylbetulinic acid (1), 3 alpha-O-trans-coumaroylbetulinic acid (2) and 3beta-O-cis-feruloylbetulin (3), together with 10 known triterpenes (4-13), were isolated from the aerial parts of the mangrove plant Ceriops tagal. The structures of the three new compounds were established by means of spectroscopic data analyses and chemical methods.