title: Alertenone, a dimer of suberosenone from Alertigorgia sp.
abstract: Bioassay-guided fractionation of organic extracts of the gorgonian Alertigorgia sp. has yielded the previously known suberosenone (1), a cytotoxic tricyclic sesquiterpene of the quadrone class, and alertenone (2), a dimer of suberosenone. The structure of 2 was determined by spectral analysis; the 1D TOCSY experiment was particularly useful in the structure elucidation. Comparison of the in vitro cytotoxicity of alertenone and suberosenone revealed that the dimeric alertenone was devoid of cytotoxicity below 35 microg/mL. In a hollow-fiber assay model of in vivo activity, suberosenone exhibited some growth inhibition of two of six tumor cell lines tested.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Drug Discovery Research and Development, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center, Building 1052, Room 121, Frederick, Maryland 21702-1201. USA.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Bokesch
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Blunt
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Westergaard
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cardellina
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Michael
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: McKee
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Hollingshead
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Boyd
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003063:Cnidaria / Q000737:chemistry*; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D012717:Sesquiterpenes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D012717:Sesquiterpenes; C119551:alertenone