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Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Determination of Total Lipid and Lipid Classes in Marine Samples
Published on: December 11, 2021
Inhibition of neutral lipid synthesis by avarols from a marine sponge
Taichi Ohshiro1, Keisuke Kobayashi1, Aika Suzuki2
1Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kitasato University, Tokyo 108-8641, Japan; Medicinal Research Laboratories, School of Pharmacy, Kitasato University, Tokyo, Japan.
Abstract:
The effects of 14 sesquiterpene hydroquinones, including 8 marine sponge-derived avarols (1-8) and 6 semisynthetic derivatives (9-14), on lipid droplet accumulation and neutral lipid synthesis in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) K1 cells were investigated. In intact CHO-K1 cell assays, avarol (1) markedly decreased the number and size of lipid droplets in CHO-K1 cells and exhibited the most potent inhibitory activity on the synthesis of cholesteryl ester (CE) and triglyceride (TG) with IC50 values of 5.74 and 6.80 µM, respectively. In enzyme assays, sterol O-acyltransferase (SOAT), the final enzyme involved in CE biosynthesis, and diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT), the final enzyme involved in TG biosynthesis, were inhibited by 1 with IC50 values of 7.31 and 20.0 µM, respectively, which correlated well with those obtained in the intact cell assay. These results strongly suggest that 1 inhibited SOAT and DGAT activities in CHO-K1 cells, leading to a reduction in the accumulation of CE and TG in lipid droplets.
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