Variolins and related alkaloids

Variolin B, a novel marine alkaloid that was isolated from the rare and difficult-to-access, Antarctic sponge Kirkpatrickia varialosa by the group of Blunt and Munro, is a cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK). despite their modest size, the variolins presented a challenge in their structural elucidation because of the presence of several ring-nitrogen atoms and relatively few hydrogen atoms in the structure. Hernandez Franco and Palermo reported the isolation of five 3-(2-aminopyrimidine)indoles, which were named meridianins A-E from the tunicate Apidium meridianum which has been collected at a depth of 100 m near the South Georgia Islands. The aplicyanin family was isolated from the Antarctic tunicate Aplidium cyaneum and consists of six variants on a core 3-(tetrahydropyrimidyl) indole structure. Kuhn and co-workers used their modeling software SLIDE to identify variolin B as the top candidate for the inhibition of the AsnRS found in Brugia malayi.