Steroids from an Australian sponge Psammoclema sp.

Investigation of an extract of the Australian marine sponge Psammoclema sp. for dynamin I inhibitory activity led to the isolation of four new trihydroxysterols (1-4) related to aragusterol G. These compounds were largely identified by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic methods. While 1 was found to be inactive in the dynamin bioassay, bioassays did reveal that compounds 1-4 inhibited the growth of colorectal, breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer cell lines (GI(50) 5-27 microM). The additional insight that these new compounds give to previous SAR studies is discussed briefly.