13-Deoxytedanolide, a marine sponge-derived antitumor macrolide, binds to the 60S large ribosomal subunit.

13-Deoxytedanolide is a potent antitumor macrolide isolated from the marine sponge Mycale adhaerens. In spite of its remarkable activity, the mode of action of 13-deoxytedanolide has not been elucidated. [11-3H]-(11S)-13-Deoxydihydrotedanolide derived from the macrolide was used for identifying the target molecule from the yeast cell lysate. Fractionation of the binding protein revealed that the labeled 13-deoxytedanolide derivative strongly bound to the 80S ribosome as well as to the 60S large subunit, but not to the 40S small subunit. In agreement with this observation, 13-deoxytedanolide efficiently inhibited the polypeptide elongation. Interestingly, competition studies demonstrated that 13-deoxytedanolide shared the binding site on the 60S large subunit with pederin and its marine-derived analogues. These results indicate that 13-deoxytedanolide is a potent protein synthesis inhibitor and is the first macrolide to inhibit the eukaryotic ribosome.