Streptocinnamides A and B, Depsipeptides from sp. KMM 9044.

The bacterium sp. KMM 9044 from a sample of marine sediment collected in the northwestern part of the Sea of Japan produces highly chlorinated depsiheptapeptides streptocinnamides A () and B (), representatives of a new structural group of antibiotics. The structures of and were determined using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry studies and confirmed by a series of chemical transformations.

Toporosides A and B, Cyclopentenyl-Containing ω-Glycosylated Fatty Acid Amides, and Toporosides C and D from the Northwestern Pacific Marine Sponge .

Toporosides A-D (-), new ω-glycosylated fatty acid amides, were isolated from the sponge . The structures of these compounds, including absolute configurations of stereogenic centers, were established using analysis of 1D and 2D NMR, ECD, and HR mass spectra as well as chemical transformations. Toporosides A () and B () are the first lipids containing a cyclopentenyl α,β-unsaturated carbonyl moiety in the polymethylene chain.

The Modulation of Functional Status of Bovine Spermatozoa by Progesterone.

The aim of this study is to identify the effects of progesterone (PRG) on the capacitation and the acrosome reaction in bovine spermatozoa. The fresh sperm samples were incubated with and without capacitation inductors (heparin, dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (dbcAMP)), hormones (prolactin (PRL), PRG), inhibitors of microfilaments (cytochalasin D) and microtubules (nocodazole) during capacitation and acrosome reactions. The functional status of spermatozoa was examined using the chlortetracycline assay.

New Deoxyisoaustamide Derivatives from the Coral-Derived Fungus KMM 4689.

Seven new deoxyisoaustamide derivatives (-) together with known compounds (-) were isolated from the coral-derived fungus KMM 4689. Their structures were established using spectroscopic methods, X-ray diffraction analysis and by comparison with related known compounds. The absolute configurations of some alkaloids were determined based on CD and NOESY data as well as biogenetic considerations.

Structural Analysis of Oxidized Cerebrosides from the Extract of Deep-Sea Sponge sp.: Occurrence of Amide-Linked Allylically Oxygenated Fatty Acids.

The structural elucidation of primary and secondary peroxidation products, formed from complex lipids, is a challenge in lipid analysis. In the present study, rare minor oxidized cerebrosides, isolated from the extract of a far eastern deep-sea glass sponge, sp., were analyzed as constituents of a multi-component RP-HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography on reversed-phase column) fraction using NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, GC (gas chromatography), and chemical transformations (including hydrogenation or derivatization with dimethyl disulfide before hydrolysis).