Eleutherobin is a diterpene glycoside initially isolated from the soft coral Eleutherobia sp. from Western Australia. This natural product was shown to be a potent cancer cell inhibitor with an IC50 similar to that of paclitaxel (Taxol®) (10-15 nM), and assays in the National Cancer Institute’s 60 cell line panel showed a 100-fold greater potency over the mean cytotoxicity towards breast, renal, ovarian and lung cancer cell lines. It has also been recently demonstrated that eleutherobin exhibits cross-resistance in paclitaxel-resistant cell lines. Significantly, eleutherobin was found to stabilize microtubules by competing for the paclitaxel binding site.
Erythropodium caribaeorum eleutherobin
Development of eleutherobin has been severely hampered as no additional samples of Eleutherobia sp. could be found. Very recently, eleutherobin, along with new derivatives, was found by the Andersen group (UBC) in Erythropodium caribaeorum, an encrusting coral found in South Florida and the Caribbean. While this finding provides small amounts of eleutherobin for further development as an anticancer agent, there is not a sufficient supply of eleutherobin in nature. However, this observation does provide an exciting opportunity to complete a detailed biosynthetic study of eleutherobin. To ensure the continued and uninterrupted development of this exciting new marine natural product, we have undertaken a project directed at understanding the biological processes involved in eleutherobin production and using this to develop production methods.
Pseudopterosin / Eleutherobin / Oroidin