%0 Journal Article
%T Characterization and Cytotoxicity Studies of the Rare 21:4 n-7 Acid and Other Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids from the Marine Opisthobranch Scaphander lignarius, Isolated Using Bioassay Guided Fractionation
%A Terje Vasskog
%A Jeanette H. Andersen
%A Espen Hansen
%A Johan Svenson
%J Marine Drugs
%D 2012
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/md10122676
%X The marine opisthobranch Scaphander lignarius has been analyzed in the systematic search for novel bioactive compounds in Arctic marine organisms using bioassay guided fractionation. A number of highly cytotoxic fractions were shown to contain mainly polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Selected PUFAs were isolated and identified using both liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). It was shown that the opisthobranch contained unusual PUFAs such as several ¦Ø3 fatty acids and the ¦Ø7 heneicosa-5,8,11,14-tetraenoic acid (21:4 n-7) not isolated before. The organism was shown to be a very rich source of PUFAs and the activity of the isolated compounds against a range of human cancer cell lines (melanoma, colon carcinoma and breast carcinoma) is further reported. The ¦Ø7 PUFA was significantly more cytotoxic in comparison with reference ¦Ø6 arachidonic and ¦Ø3 eicosapentaenoic acid. A noteworthy non-selective cytotoxicity against normal lung fibroblasts was also established. The paper contains isolation protocols in addition to cytotoxicity data of the isolated compounds. The potential of marine mollusks as a source for rare PUFAs is also discussed.
%K opisthobranch
%K cytotoxic
%K PUFA
%K Scaphander lignarius
%K ¦Ø7 fatty acid
%U http://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/10/12/2676