Calothrixins A and B, novel pentacyclic metabolites from Calothrix cyanobacteria with potent activity against malaria parasites and human cancer cells

Rodney W. Rickards*, Jennifer M. Rothschild, Anthony C. Willis, Nola M. De Chazal, Julie Kirk, Kiaran Kirk, Kevin J. Saliba, Geoffrey D. Smith

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    246 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Cell extracts from photoautrophic cultures of two cyanobacterial Calothrix isolates inhibited the growth in vitro of a chloroquine-resistant strain of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and of human HeLa cancer cells, in a dose-dependent manner. Bioassay-directed fractionation of the extracts led to the isolation and structural characterization of calothrixins A (1) and B (2), pentacyclic metabolites with an indolo[3,2- j]phenanthridine ring system unique amongst natural products, which exert their growth-inhibitory effects at nanomolar concentrations.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)13513-13520
    Number of pages8
    JournalTetrahedron
    Volume55
    Issue number47
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 19 Nov 1999

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