Acroamine A, a 2-Amino Adenine Alkaloid from the Marine Soft Coral Acrozoanthus australiae and Its Semisynthetic Derivatives That Inhibit cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase A Catalytic Subunit Alpha

J Nat Prod. 2024 Aug 23;87(8):2014-2020. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.4c00477. Epub 2024 Aug 14.

Abstract

A high throughput screen performed to identify catalytic inhibitors of the oncogenic fusion form of cAMP-dependent protein kinase A catalytic subunit alpha (J-PKAcα) found an individual fraction from an organic extract of the marine soft coral Acrozoanthus australiae as active. Bioassay-guided isolation led to the identification of a 2-amino adenine alkaloid acroamine A (1), the first secondary metabolite discovered from this genus and previously reported as a synthetic product. As a naturally occurring protein kinase inhibitor, to unambiguously assign its chemical structure using modern spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques, five N-methylated derivatives acroamines A1-A5 (2-6) were semisynthesized. Three additional brominated congeners A6-A8 (7-9) were also semisynthesized to investigate the structure-activity relationship of the nine compounds as J-PKAcα inhibitors. Compounds 1-9 were tested for J-PKAcα and wild-type PKA inhibitory activities, which were observed exclusively in acroamine A (1) and its brominated analogs (7-9) achieving moderate potency (IC50 2-50 μM) while none of the N-methylated analogs exhibited kinase inhibition.

MeSH terms

  • Adenine / analogs & derivatives
  • Adenine / chemistry
  • Adenine / pharmacology
  • Alkaloids* / chemistry
  • Alkaloids* / isolation & purification
  • Alkaloids* / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • Anthozoa* / chemistry
  • Catalytic Domain
  • Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases* / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases* / metabolism
  • Molecular Structure
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Structure-Activity Relationship

Substances

  • Alkaloids
  • Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases
  • Adenine
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors