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Three‐spot seahorse (Hippocampus trimaculatus) has been consumed as traditional Chinese medicine in Asian society. This study was designed to analyze the bioactive compounds of the solvent extracts from cultured three‐spot seahorse by high pressure liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC‐ESI/MS/MS). Subsequently, their biological activities were evaluated and confirmed by cell modes and Western blot analysis. Experimental results indicated that taurine and arginine were the primary bioactive compounds identified and quantified without pre‐ or post‐column derivatization within 20 min retention time. The analytical method was established and validated with intraday/interday RSD from 0.25% to 3.34% and with recovery from 87.8% to 91.2%. As compared to other extracts, water layer extract (WLE) contained the most taurine and arginine contents of 6.807 and 0.437 mg/g (dry basis), respectively. In the meanwhile, WLE also showed anti‐inflammatory activity on LPS‐induced NO production and inhibited the protein expression of TNF‐α and COX‐2 by Western blot analysis with better cell viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main observation and conclusion: The new racemic and dimeric indole alkaloids with the characteristic cyclopenta[b]indole backbone, (+)‐ and (–)‐spondomine (1a/1b), were isolated from a cultured sponge Tedania anhelans. A semi‐synthesis was employed to obtain 1a/1b and the other four stereoisomers 1c—1f. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis, single‐crystal X‐ray, and quantum chemical calculations. Six stereoisomers differ in bioactivity according to their absolute configurations. Especially, (+)‐spondomine (1a) displayed cytotoxicity against the K562 cell line and exhibited stronger Wnt and HIF1 dual signaling inhibitory activity at 5 μmol/L than the positive control, which offers an exciting starting point for further investigations. All stereoisomers significantly promoted angiogenesis and showed moderate anti‐inflammation in zebrafish. A quantum chemical calculation and deuteration experiment were applied to unveil the reaction mechanism which guides the synthesis of the target compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new piperidine alkaloid, microcosamine C (1), and one known compound, microcosamine A (2) were isolated from the leaves of Microcos paniculata. Structure elucidation was carried out using HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic methods and by comparison with data reported in the literature. The absolute configuration at the C-3 hydroxy group of 1 was established by a Mosher esterification procedure. Both the isolates (1–2) were evaluated for cytotoxicity against four selected tumour cell lines and showed only weak activity against RAW 264.7 cell line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]