Exploring the chemical diversity of marine sponges from Futuna Islands in the Pacific ocean
Gordo, María Miguel
Gordo, María Miguel
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Identifiers
http://hdl.handle.net/10379/17212
https://doi.org/10.13025/17955
https://doi.org/10.13025/17955
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Publication Date
2022-06-15
Type
Thesis
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Abstract
Marine biodiversity is still unknown in underexplored regions of the Ocean. Sponges, and their associated microbiome, living in the precious marine ecosystems are known to produce intricate chemical scaffolds with biological activities that provide different applications including health therapy. The development of new medicines is necessary due to the continuous threat of diseases such as cancer, infectionsbyantibiotic resistanceand degenerative diseases. The search for new molecules capable of providing solutions to these sicknesses is vital. The marine environment is a good place to explore those bioactive metabolites with some of them already marketed as drugs.In this frame, the marine sponges of the archipelago of Futuna Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean, were inventoried for the first time during the Tara Pacific expedition in 2016. The present thesis focuses on the first investigations of the chemical diversity of these Porifera with the aim of discovering new molecules with pharmacological potential. Followed by a prioritisation process based on chemical profiling and biological screening, four sponges were selected for further chemical investigations. Narrabeena nigra, Stylissaaff. carteri, an unidentified sponge of the Order Bubarida and Suberea clavataled to the isolation of 21 new metabolites. Another 30 known compounds were identified in a total of seven sponge species. Bromotryptamine and bromotyramine derivatives from N. nigraand pyrrole-imidazole alkaloids, including futunamine, debromokonbu’acidin and didebromocarteraminefrom S. carteridisplayed interesting neuroprotective activities. Terpenoids from the Bubarida sponge, the monomeric bubaridins A-F, and dimeric nitrogenous bisabolene derivatives, as trans-dimer theonellin isocyanide showed antifungal properties. And a new bromotyrosine alkaloid with a homoserine moiety was isolated from S. clavata.Furthermore, cheminformatics analysis allowed the visualisationof the chemical space of sponge-derived metabolites based on structural and physicochemical parameters regarding drug-like properties and compared with a dataset of chemical entities of approved drugs. This initial exploration of sponge metabolites revealed the broad chemical diversity of natural products discovered from Futuna Islands with promising bioactivities that could become lead compounds, adding value to the marine environment to promote their conservation.
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Publisher
NUI Galway