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PC-08

Exploration of briaranes from cultured Briareum stechei for sustainable anti-

inflammatory drug development using MS-based molecular networking

1
3
1,2
Lo-Yun Chen, Bo-Rong Peng, Thanh Hao Huynh, You-Ying Chen, Ngoc-Thac Pham,
1
2
,1
Huong-Giang Le, Tsong-Long Hwang, Kuei-Hung Lai*
1
2

1 PhD Program in Clinical Drug Development of Herbal Medicine, College of Pharmacy,
Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110301, Taiwan.
2 Research Center for Chinese Herbal Medicine, College of Human Ecology, Chang Gung
University of Science and Technology, Taoyuan 33303, Taiwan.
3 National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium. Pingtung City 944401, Taiwan.
* E-mail: kueihunglai@tmu.edu.tw

Abstract
Soft corals are recognized as prolific sources of bioactive secondary metabolites with
promising pharmaceutical applications. In this study, we established untargeted LC-MS/MS-
based multi-informative molecular networking and twelve briarane-type diterpenes were
isolated from the cultured soft coral Briareum stechei, maintained in a closed seawater
aquaculture system. Among them, six new compounds were identified and named briastechols
A–F (1–6). Notably, briastechols A (1) and B (2) possess a rare 11,14-ether bridge, while
briastechols C (3) and D (4) feature a tetrahydrofuran moiety with an ether linkage between C-
5 and C-8. Additionally, the absolute configurations of briastechol F (6) and briarenol H (10)
were determined for the first time via X-ray crystallographic analysis. Biological evaluation
revealed that the crude extract exhibited potent anti-inflammatory activity, as evidenced by its
inhibition of superoxide anion generation and elastase release in fMLF/CB-stimulated human
neutrophils. Among the isolated compounds, briastechol E (5) showed significant anti-
inflammatory potential, with IC₅₀ values of 7.89 ± 0.38 µM and 4.53 ± 0.68 µM against
superoxide anion generation and elastase release, respectively. These findings underscore the
structural novelty and chemical diversity of metabolites from B. stechei, highlighting its
potential as a sustainable source of anti-inflammatory agents and supporting the viability of
closed aquaculture systems for marine natural product research.

Keywords: Briarane; Briareum stechei; Molecular networking; Anti-inflammatory; Sustainable
marine resource