Abstract
The present study was carried out to isolate, purify and elucidate the structure of low molecular weight bioactive compounds from sea anemone, Gyrostoma helianthus of the Red Sea environment. The obtained results indicated that the ethanolic crude extract of the sea anemone, G. helianthus showed inhibition activity against acetylcholinesterase (AchE). The 0.5 kD fraction inhibited the activity of the AchE that indicated the presence of low M.W active compound(s) of less than 0.5 kD. Two active fractions were obtained after BioGel P2 fractionation of the 0.5 kD of the G. helianthus. The first active fraction inhibited the activity of the acetylcholinesterase, while the other fraction did not. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique aided by semipreparative columns was used to isolate the target compounds in a pure form for the structure elucidation, one dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis (1H and 13C-NMR) and DEPT were carried out to elucidate the structure of the isolated compound which was tentatively identified as N,N'-bis-(1-methyl-pyridin-2-yl)-hydrazine. Key words: Sea anemone, Gyrostoma helianthus, Red Sea, structure elucidation, acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibitor.
Highlights
IntroductionThe study of marine organisms as a source of biologically active compounds is considered a very productive field, having already led to the discovery of various new pharmacological tools and medicines (Bhakuni, 1994; Munro et al., 1999; Faulkner, 2001)
The work of Bergman and Feeney at the beginning of the1950s initiated the study of marine natural products, and in the last few decades, an appreciable number of new compounds have been isolated from marine organisms (Bhakuni, 1994; Faulkner, 2000a, b; Faulkner, 2001)
It is increasingly realized that many marine toxins are very site specific in their actions and are of value as biological tools
Summary
The study of marine organisms as a source of biologically active compounds is considered a very productive field, having already led to the discovery of various new pharmacological tools and medicines (Bhakuni, 1994; Munro et al., 1999; Faulkner, 2001). The work of Bergman and Feeney at the beginning of the1950s initiated the study of marine natural products, and in the last few decades, an appreciable number of new compounds have been isolated from marine organisms (Bhakuni, 1994; Faulkner, 2000a, b; Faulkner, 2001). It is increasingly realized that many marine toxins are very site specific in their actions and are of value as biological tools. The improvement in isolation and chemical identification techniques, the collaboration between chemists and pharmacologists, and most recently, the interest of pharmaceutical industries have been important determinants in the development of marine natural products research (Faulkner, 2000b)
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