Additional antitumor ecteinascidins from a Caribbean tunicate: crystal structures and activities in vivo

Ecteinascidins (Ets), isolated from the Caribbean tunicate Ecteinascidia turbinata, protect mice in vivo against P388 lymphoma, B16 melanoma, M5076 ovarian sarcoma, Lewis lung carcinoma, and the LX-1 human lung and MX-1 human mammary carcinoma xenografts. Crystal structures of two tris(tetrahydroisoquinoline) Ets were investigated with single crystals of the 21-O-methyl-N12-formyl derivative of Et 729 and the natural N12-oxide of Et 743. Representatives of an additional class of Ets, Et 722 and Et 736, isolated from the same organism, were assigned tetrahydro-beta-carboline-substituted bis(tetrahydroisoquinoline) structures by NMR and fast atom bombardment MS spectra.