title: 2-methoxylated fatty acids in marine sponges: defense mechanism against mycobacteria?
abstract: A series of saturated 2-methoxylated FA having even-numbered chains with 8-14 carbons were synthesized, and their spectroscopic data are presented for the first time. The 2-methoxylated C10-C14 acids were prepared from the corresponding 2-hydroxylated FA, whereas the 2-methoxyoctanoic acid was synthesized starting with heptaldehyde. All of the methoxylated FA displayed some degree of inhibition (between 2 and 99%) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv at 6.25 microg/mL. The most inhibitory FA was 2-methoxydecanoic acid, with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 200-239 microM against M. tuberculosis H(37)Rv as determined by both the microplate Alamar Blue assay and the green fluorescent protein microplate assay. These results are discussed in terms of the possible role of the 2-methoxylated FA as antimicrobial lipids produced either by marine sponges, or the associated marine symbiotic bacteria, as a defense mechanism in a highly competitive environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico. ncarball@upracd.upr.clu.edu
authors.forename: Néstor M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Carballeira
authors.forename: Heidyleen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Cecil D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Kwong
authors.forename: Baojie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Franzblau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D011161:Porifera / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D005227:Fatty Acids