Iheyamides A-C, Antitrypanosomal Linear Peptides Isolated from a Marine Dapis sp. Cyanobacterium.

Iheyamides A (1), B (2), and C (3), new linear peptides, were isolated from a marine Dapis sp. cyanobacterium. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses and degradation reactions. Iheyamide A (1) showed moderate antitrypanosomal activities against Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei brucei (IC50 = 1.5 µM), but the other two analogues, iheyamides B (2) and C (3), did not (IC50 > 20 µM, respectively). The structure-activity relationship clarified that an isopropyl-O-Me-pyrrolinone moiety was necessary for the antitrypanosomal activity. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity of 1 against normal human cells, WI-38, was 10 times weaker than its antitrypanosomal activity (IC50 = 18 µM).