No abstract

The new sesterterpenoids alotaketals A (1) and B (2) have been isolated from extracts of the marine sponge Hamigera sp. collected in Papua New Guinea. Their chemical structures were elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic data. Alotaketals A and B have the unprecedented alotane carbon skeleton, and they activate the cAMP cell signaling pathway with EC(50)'s of 18 and 240 nM, respectively.

Ansellone A (1) has been isolated from the dorid nudibranch Cadlina luteomarginata and the sponge Phorbas sp. It has the new "ansellane" sesterterpenoid carbon skeleton, and it activates the cAMP signaling pathway.

Four new sesterterpenoids, ansellone B (4), phorbadione (5), secoepoxyansellone A (6), and alotaketal C (7), have been isolated from specimens of the sponge Phorbas sp. collected in British Columbia. Ansellone B (4) has an unprecedented heterocyclic skeleton featuring an oxocane ring, and secoepoxyansellone A (6) is the first example of the degraded "secoansellane" sesterterpenoid carbon skeleton. Alotaketal C (7) is an activator of cAMP signaling in HEK cells.