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Updated: May 22, 2026

Synthesis and Assay of Vibrio Quorum Sensing Inhibitors
Published on: May 31, 2024
Honaucins A-C, potent inhibitors of inflammation and bacterial quorum sensing: synthetic derivatives and
Hyukjae Choi1, Samantha J Mascuch, Francisco A Villa
1Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA.
Abstract:
Honaucins A-C were isolated from the cyanobacterium Leptolyngbya crossbyana which was found overgrowing corals on the Hawaiian coast. Honaucin A consists of (S)-3-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactone and 4-chlorocrotonic acid, which are connected via an ester linkage. Honaucin A and its two natural analogs exhibit potent inhibition of both bioluminescence, a quorum-sensing-dependent phenotype, in Vibrio harveyi BB120 and lipopolysaccharide-stimulated nitric oxide production in the murine macrophage cell line RAW264.7. The decrease in nitric oxide production was accompanied by a decrease in the transcripts of several proinflammatory cytokines, most dramatically interleukin-1β. Synthesis of honaucin A, as well as a number of analogs, and subsequent evaluation in anti-inflammation and quorum-sensing inhibition bioassays revealed the essential structural features for activity in this chemical class and provided analogs with greater potency in both assays.
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