An improved synthesis of psammaplin A.

The marine natural product, psammaplin A, was first isolated from the Psammaplinaplysilla sponge in 1987. Since that time, psammaplin A has shown a wide spectrum of biological activities that include enzyme inhibitory activities resulting in antibacterial and antitumor effects. An improved synthesis of psammaplin A has been developed, making the compound more easily accessible for further biological evaluations. In this context, we find that psammaplin A is an effective DNA methyltransferase inhibitor in vitro but fails to alter genomic DNA methylation levels in treated human cancer cells.