S. Demarino et al., STARFISH SAPONINS .54. CYTOTOXIC ASTEROSAPONINS FROM AN ANTARCTIC STARFISH OF THE FAMILY ECHINASTERIDAE, Gazzetta chimica italiana, 126(10), 1996, pp. 667-672
An investigation of the polar extracts from a starfish, collected in t
he Antarctic Sea, and identified as belonging to the Echinasteridae fa
mily, has led to the isolation of seven sulphated <<asterosaponins>>.
Five are new compounds. Three of them, named antarcticoside A, 1, B, 2
, and C, 3, contain a novel hexasaccharide chain with two branches: i.
e., ta-quinovopyranosyl-(1-->3)-beta-quinovopyranosyl, linked to C-6 o
f sulphated steroidal aglycones, which differ from one another in the
side chains. The novel asterosaponins 4-5, are the 24-methyl analogues
of brasiliensoside, 6, and pectinioside A, 7, pentaglycosides describ
ed from Echinaster brasiliensis and Asterina pectinifera, respectively
. The spectral data of the two remaining asterosaponins agree with tho
se of brasiliensoside, 6 and with those of pectinioside A, 7, respecti
vely. The isolated asterosaponins have been found to be cytotoxic agai
nst human bronchopulmunary non-small-cell-lung carcinoma cells at IC50
< 3.3 mu g/ml.