Marine organisms have evolved to survive against predators in complex marine ecosystems via the production of chemical compounds. Soft corals (cnidaria, Anthozoa, octocorallia) are an important source of chemically diverse metabolites with a broad spectrum of biological activities. Herein, we perform a comparative study between high-resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1 H-nMR) and pure shift yielded by chirp excitation (PSYCHE) experiments to analyze the metabolic profile of 24 soft corals from the Colombian Caribbean to correlate chemical fingerprints with their cytotoxic activity against three cancer cell lines (human cervical carcinoma (SiHa), human prostatic carcinoma (PC3) and human lung adenocarcinoma (A549)). All data obtained were explored using multivariate analysis using principal components analysis (pcA) and orthogonal partial least squares (opLS) analysis. the results did not show a significant correlation between clusters using 1 H-nMR data in the pcA and opLS-DA models and therefore did not provide conclusive evidence; on the other hand, a metabolomic analysis of pSYcHe data obtained under the same parameters revealed that when a decoupled experiment is performed, it was possible to establish a statistically valid correlation between the chemical composition of soft corals and their cytotoxic activity against the PC3 cancer cell line, where the asperdiol and plexaurolone markers were putatively identified and related to the cytotoxic activity presented by extracts of Plexaurella sp. and Plexaura kukenthali, respectively. these results increase the speed, effectiveness and reliability of analyses for the study of this type of complex matrices. Metabolomics studies allow a complete analysis of a set of metabolites that are the substrates and products of metabolism driving essential cellular functions in a given biological system 1. This research has applications in different fields, such as pharmacology, environmental sciences, chemotaxonomy, nutrition and medicine 2. Recently, metabolomic approaches have allowed the understanding of complex biological systems and the biochemical composition of organisms that live in diverse environments, such as marine areas 3. Goulitquer et al. demonstrated that metabolites are important links between genotype and phenotype and are important for studying several biological processes and for analyzing interactions between organisms within communities via mass spectrometry (MS)-based metabolomics 4. In addition, Mohamed A. Farag et al. compared metabolomics results obtained with liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS) with those obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to investigate the metabolism of 16 Sarcophyton species in the context of their genetic diversity and growth habitats 3. The importance of studying marine invertebrates lies in their extraordinary ability to produce a broad variety of chemical compounds with unique chemical structures that in most cases have been correlated with significant biological activities, which ...

Prostaglandin A2-AcMe (1) and Prostaglandin A2 (2) were isolated from the octocoral Plexaura homomalla and three semisynthetic derivatives (3–5) were then obtained using a reduction protocol. All compounds were identified through one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments. Additionally, evaluation of in vitro cytotoxic activity against the breast (MDA-MB-213) and lung (A549) cancer cell lines, in combination with enzymatic activity and molecular docking studies with the enzymes p38α-kinase, Src-kinase, and topoisomerase IIα, were carried out for compounds 1–5 in order to explore their potential as inhibitors of cancer-related molecular targets. Results showed that prostaglandin A2 (2) was the most potent compound with an IC50 of 16.46 and 25.20 μg/mL against MDA-MB-213 and A549 cell lines, respectively. In addition, this compound also inhibited p38α-kinase in 49% and Src-kinase in 59% at 2.5 μM, whereas topoisomerase IIα was inhibited in 64% at 10 μM. Enzymatic activity was found to be consistent with molecular docking simulations, since compound 2 also showed the lowest docking scores against the topoisomerase IIα and Src-kinase (−8.7 and −8.9 kcal/mol, respectively). Thus, molecular docking led to establish some insights into the predicted binding modes. Results suggest that prostaglandin 2 can be considered as a potential lead for development inhibitors against some enzymes present in cancer processes.

BACKGROUND: The quality of light, such as wavelength and the intensity affect the performance of algal growth and lipid production. Moreover, these variables also affect the lipids profile. To study the interrelation among these variables, Acutodesmus obliquus (Scenedesmus obliquus UTEX393) a microalga, was cultivated using illumination by light-emitting-diode surface mount device extensions emitting red ( = 620-750 nm), yellow ( = 570-590 nm), green ( = 495-570 nm) and violet ( = 380-450 nm) light. Additionally, each culture was illuminated at different light intensities (I 1 = 8.75, I 2 = 14.22 and I 3 = 19.69 W m −2 ). Finally, all samples were analysed by GC-MS. RESULTS:The results showed: (1) the biomass production is directly proportional to the light intensity, e.g. at I 3 = 19.69 W m −2 violet (36.80 mg L −1 ), yellow (25.49 mg L −1 ) and red (39.44 mg L −1 ) showed the major production; (2) however, the lipids were produced in minor amounts at major violet light intensity (3.64 mg L −1 at I 3 = 19.69 W m −2 ); (3) the major lipids production (20.56 mg L −1 ) was obtained with red light at I 3 = 19.69 W m −2 and (4) A. obliquus, under the parameters established was a good producer of lipids. CONCLUSIONS:The major amount of biomass was obtained at red, yellow and violet light; meanwhile, the low biomass production, using green light, was associated with inefficient absorption of green light by chlorophyll. Additionally, palmitic, linolenic and linoleic were the most produced lipids, establishing a dependence between light wavelength and irradiance with biomass and lipid production. These results support the use of wavelengths and intensities to produce a group of specific lipids according to the needs of different industries.

Microalgae are widely used in the pharmaceutical and energy industries, therefore the conditions for their cultivation and extraction methods play an important role in the profiling and acquisition of lipids. The efficiency of lipid extraction from microalgae has attracted great interest from industry because of the wide variety of lipids and amounts that can be obtained. Acutodesmus obliquus (Scenedesmus obliquus UTEX 393) was used in this study. It was cultivated in Bold 3N medium modified with 75% nitrogen at 25°C, pH 6.8, 125 r/min and a photoperiod of 18/6 h and illuminated with white light provided by a Light-Emitting Diode Surface Mount Device extensions (LED SMD) with an intensity of 1200 µE/(m 2 · s). The cells were stained with the Red Nile (RN) technique to indicate lipid production. Four extraction methods were compared, classical, microwave (MW), Soxhlet, and ultrasound (US), using the same solvent proportions (hexane: chloroform: methanol=1 : 2 : 3 ). All samples were analyzed with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The results showed: 1) lipid production detected by RN was consistent with microalgal growth; 2) the MW technique was the best extraction method, according to the statistical analysis through Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design and performance of 4.6%; and 3) the presence of saturated and unsaturated acids was indicated by FTIR spectra. GC-MS was able to identify palmitic and linoleic acids as the likely major constituents of the sample.