Total Synthesis of Callyspongiolide: An Anticancer Marine Natural Product

Scaling Amatoxin Synthesis with an Improved Route to (2S,3R,4R)-Dihydroxyisoleucine Exemplified by a Toxic, Clickable α-Amanitin Analogue

Here we report a scalable synthesis of the key amino acid residue, (2S,3R,4R)-4,5-dihydroxyisoleucine (DHIle) in α-amanitin, that in turn enables the scalable synthesis of an equipotent analogue, Asn^{(N-ethylazide)}-S,6'-dideoxy-α-amanitin, suitable for CuAAC conjugation to empower studies on therapeutic antibody-drug conjugates.

The Synthesis and Bioactivity of the Marine Macrolide Callyspongiolide

Callyspongiolide, a macrolide natural product with a conjugated diene-ynic side chain, has garnered significant attention from the synthetic community since its isolation from a sea sponge in 2013. Herein, the approaches that have been applied to this bioactive natural product to date are reviewed. These synthetic endeavors have established the absolute stereochemistry of this molecule and allowed further investigation into its promising caspase-independent bioactivity, while also contributing to the wider field of macrolide synthesis.

Structure determination, correction, and disproof of marine macrolide natural products by chemical synthesis

Integration of chemical synthesis, NMR spectroscopy, and various analytical means is key to success in the structure elucidation of stereochemically complex marine macrolide natural products.

Callyspongiolide Is a Potent Inhibitor of the Vacuolar ATPase

Callyspongiolide is a marine-derived macrolide that kills cells in a caspase-independent manner. NCI COMPARE analysis of human tumor cell line toxicity data for synthetic callyspongiolide indicated that its pattern of cytotoxicity correlated with that seen for concanamycin A, an inhibitor of the vacuolar-type H⁺-ATPase (V-ATPase). Using yeast as a model system, we report that treatment with synthetic callyspongiolide phenocopied a loss of V-ATPase activity including (1) inability to grow on a nonfermentable carbon source, (2) rescue of cell growth via supplementation with Fe²⁺, (3) pH-sensitive growth, and (4) a vacuolar acidification defect visualized using the fluorescent dye quinacrine. Crucially, in an in vitro assay, callyspongiolide was found to dose-dependently inhibit yeast V-ATPase (IC₅₀ = 10 nM). Together, these data identify callyspongiolide as a new and highly potent V-ATPase inhibitor. Notably, callyspongiolide is the first V-ATPase inhibitor known to be expelled by Pdr5p.

Enantioselective formal synthesis of the marine macrolide (-)-callyspongiolide

A short enantioselective synthesis of the macrocyclic core 19 of callyspongiolide, involving a homocrotylboration of aldehyde 4, a Still-Genari olefination, an esterification with alcohol 17, and a ring-closing metathesis, is reported.