Chemical diversity and biological activities of marine-derived sulphur containing alkaloids: A comprehensive update

Objectives: The ocean is a huge ecosystem with diverse marine life. Scientists have found a large number of natural products with unique structural features and excellent biological activity from these organisms. Marine-derived sulphur-containing alkaloids are a significant family of natural products with diverse structures and bioactivities. In this paper, the chemical and biological diversity of 972 sulfur-containing alkaloids derived from marine organisms reported from 1982 to 2022 were reviewed, and the structure–activity relationship was briefly analyzed, in order to provide reference for the discovery, synthesis, biological activity research and drug development of such compounds. Key findings: A total of 972 marine-derived sulphur-containing alkaloids have been collected. Among them, 80.36% of sulphur-containing alkaloids are from marine sponges, fungi, tunicates and bacteria. Moreover, cytotoxicity is their most significant property, About 1/3 sulphur-containing organisms are reported to be cytotoxic. Aming them, discorhabdins, curacins, tanjungides, leptosins, and latrunculins exhibit better cytotoxicity. In addition, the structure–activity relationships of the cytotoxicity of these compounds have been summarized for further investigation. Summary: In this paper, the chemical and bioactivity diversity of marine-derived sulphur-containing alkaloids were reviewed, which are a significant family of natural products with diverse structures and bioactivities. 972 sulphur-containing alkaloids were obtained from marine algae, sponges, cnidarians, tunicates, echinoderms, molluscs, bryozoans, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria, bacteria and fungi, which possessed a wide spectrum of pharmacology including cytotoxicity, antibacterial, antifungal, antimitotic, antiviral, and other activities.