We previously discovered that one specific scalemic preparation of myricanol (1), a constituent of Myrica cerifera (bayberry/southern wax myrtle) root bark, could lower the levels of the microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT). The significance is that tau accumulates in a number of neurodegenerative diseases, the most common being Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Herein, a new synthetic route to prepare myricanol using a suitable boronic acid pinacol ester intermediate is reported. An X-ray crystal structure of the isolated myricanol (1) was obtained and showed a co-crystal consisting of (+)-aR,11S-myricanol (2) and (−)-aS,11R-myricanol (3) coformers. Surprisingly, 3, obtained from chiral separation from 1, reduced tau levels in both cultured cells and ex vivo brain slices from a mouse model of tauopathy at reasonable mid-to-low micromolar potency, whereas 2 did not. SILAC proteomics and cell assays revealed that 3 promoted tau degradation through an autophagic mechanism, which was in contrast to that of other tau-lowering compounds previously identified by our group. During the course of structure–activity relationship (SAR) development, we prepared compound 13 by acid-catalyzed dehydration of 1. 13 had undergone an unexpected structural rearrangement through the isomyricanol substitution pattern (e.g., 16), as verified by X-ray structural analysis. Compound 13 displayed robust tau-lowering activity, and, importantly, its enantiomers reduced tau levels similarly. Therefore, the semisynthetic analogue 13 provides a foundation for further development as a tau-lowering agent without its SAR being based on chirality.

The nudibranch Austrodoris kerguelenensis is distributed widely around the Antarctic coast and continental shelves. Earlier collections from McMurdo Sound and the Weddell Sea shelf have afforded a suite of diterpene glyceride esters, a compound class implicated as a chemical defense in nudibranchs. The present chemical investigation of A. kerguelenensis collected near Palmer Station on the Western Antarctic Peninsula has revealed additional examples, palmadorins A−C (1−3), as the first three members of a new series of clerodane diterpenes. In this paper we describe their isolation, structure elucidation, and stereochemical analysis using a combination of one- and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy and wet chemical methods.

Five new steroids, norselic acids A−E (1−5), were isolated from the sponge Crella sp. collected in Antarctica. The planar structures of the norselic acids were established by extensive NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry studies, and the configuration of norselic acid A (1) was elucidated by X-ray crystallography. Norselic acid A displays antibiotic activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), and Candida albicans and reduces consumption of food pellets by sympatric mesograzers. Compounds 1−5 are also active against the Leishmania parasite at low micromolar levels.

Covering: up to the end of 2005

Five new ecdysteroids, hyousterones A−D (2−5) and abeohyousterone (6), have been isolated from the Antarctic tunicate Synoicum adareanum along with the known ecdysteroid diaulusterol B (1). Hyousterones B (3) and D (5) are unusual ecdysteroids in bearing the 14β-hydroxyl group, and abeohyousterone incorporates the 13(14→8) abeo steroid skeleton, reflecting a rearrangement of the steroid C/D ring system. Abeohyousterone has moderate cytotoxicity toward several cancer cell lines. Hyousterones bearing the 14α-hydroxy group (2 and 4) were weakly cytotoxic, while the 14β-hydroxy hyousterones (3 and 5) were devoid of cytotoxicity. The 14β-hydroxy function may be a thermodynamic pathway to the 13(14→8) abeo steroid skeleton. Hyousterones, abeohyousterone, and diaulusterol B are the first ecdysteroids reported from tunicates.