Antimalarial β-carboline and indolactam alkaloids from Marinactinospora thermotolerans, a deep sea isolate.

Four new β-carboline alkaloids, designated marinacarbolines A-D (1-4), two new indolactam alkaloids, 13-N-demethyl-methylpendolmycin (5) and methylpendolmycin-14-O-α-glucoside (6), and the three known compounds 1-acetyl-β-carboline (7), methylpendolmycin (8), and pendolmycin (9) were obtained from the fermentation broth of Marinactinospora thermotolerans SCSIO 00652, a new actinomycete belonging to the family Nocardiopsaceae. Their structures were elucidated by extensive MS and 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data analyses. The structure of compound 1 was further confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The new compounds 1-6 were inactive against a panel of eight tumor cell lines (IC50>50 μM) but exhibited antiplasmodial activities against Plasmodium falciparum lines 3D7 and Dd2, with IC50 values ranging from 1.92 to 36.03 μM.