Identification of the New Cytotoxic Pyrrole-Terpene Molliorin F from the Mediterranean Sponge Cacospongia Mollior

Author(s): Serena Federico, Federica Albiani, Roberta Esposito, Giovanni Gambera, Angelo Fontana, Marco Bertolino, Marco Giovine, Marina Pozzolini, Genoveffa Nuzzo, Valerio Zupo, Maria Costantini

Sponges are considered the most promising marine organisms as a source of natural products for applications in biotechnology and pharmacological, nutraceutical and cosmeceutical fields. Here we focused our attention on the species Cacospongia mollior, previously collected in the Gulf of Naples and explored for its abundance in associated microorganisms. Several natural compounds were previously isolated from this species with cytotoxic activity against solid tumors but never on melanoma, considered the most aggressive and deadly type of skin cancer. Bioassay-guided fractionation was applied, leading to an enriched fraction of C. mollior able to induce cell death in human melanoma epithelial cell line (A2058) with an IC50 of 0.4 μg mL-1. Through 1H-NMR and mass spectrometry, we identified and characterized the new cytotoxic pyrrole-terpene molliorin F. Overall, our findings provide the first evaluation of this new anti-cancer compound from the marine sponge C. mollior, as new potential drug candidate for the melanoma treatment.