Two new bromotyrosine
derivatives, anomoian B (1)
and aplyzanzine B (2), were isolated, respectively, from
the organic extracts of a Verongida sponge belonging to the Hexadella genus and from a two-sponge association
(Jaspis sp. and Bubaris sp.), both collected off the coast of Indonesia. The planar structure
of 1 and 2 was determined by 1D and 2D NMR
experiments and by high-resolution mass spectrometry, while their
absolute stereochemistry was assigned by comparison with optical rotation
values of known bromotyrosines and by chemical degradation. Both compounds
showed moderate antiproliferative activity against a panel of different
cancer cell lines. Their cytotoxic activity is facilitated through
the induction of apoptosis, which is mediated neither by the generation
of reactive oxygen species nor by the inhibition of histone deacetylases
in these cell lines.