Starfish chemicals

The taurine residue can also be found as an amide derivative of the 26-carboxylic acid function in the 3p,5a,6p,15a-polyhydroxylated steroids 328 and 329, which were obtained from the starfish Myxoderma platyacanthum [245]. The structures of both compounds were determined from spectral data and chemical correlations. The bile of the sunfish Mola mola has been shown to contain a new bile acid conjugated with taurine (330) together with sodium taurocholate. Compound 330 was identified as sodium 2-[3a,7a, 11 a-trihydroxy-24-oxo-5P-cholan-24-yl]amino]ethane-sulfonate on the basis of its physicochemical data and chemical transformations [246]. 

Howden, M.E.H., Lucas, J.S., McDuff, M., and Salathe, R., Chemical defenses of Acanthaster planci, in Crown-of-Thoms Starfish Seminar Proceedings, Brisbane, September 6, 1974, Australian Government Public Service, Canberra, 1975, 67. 

Iorizzi, M., de Riccardis, F., Minale, L., and Riccio, R., Starfish saponins, 52. Chemical constituents from the starfish Echinaster brasiliensis, J. Nat. Prod., 56, 2149, 1993. 

Sperm are attracted by chemical substances, which are released by eggs. This process is called chemotaxis and is a well-known phenomenon in most animals and lower plants.4 The attraction of sperm to eggs should counteract the effects of dilution and increase the probability of fertilization in free-swimming invertebrates. Since the fertilization rate may be low under natural conditions, the presence of such chemoattractants is believed to be important. Sperm-attractant substances have been identified in several marine invertebrates, including hydrozoans, mollusks, ascidians, starfish, sea urchins, and urochordates. 

Antipredator Responses by Intertidal Gastropods to Chemicals from Starfish... 

Asterosaponins are usually considered to be responsible for the general toxicity of starfish. However, this investigation showed that sterols and another class of minor chemical components, such as glycosides of polyhydroxysteroids also play an important role in the general toxicity. 

Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number CAS 4368-28-9. Tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin produced by several species of starfish, crabs, salt-water fish, octopi, newts, and salamanders, blocks sodium channels within neurons. In a terrorist scenario, tetrodotoxin could be inhaled as an aerosol or ingested in contaminated food or water. Mortality may reach 50%. 

Shapes of vesicular aggregates range from tubular to spherical, from more exotic large compound (LCV) and starfish vesicles to simpler extended lamellae. Both unilamellar [75] and multilamellar ( onions ) [47,76] vesicles have been observed. One of the possible morphologies formed in solution are tubular vesicles, also known as tubes (rods) [77,78], Soft, water-filled polymer tubes of nanometer-range diameters and several tens of millimeters in length have been prepared via self-assembly of amphiphilic ABA triblock copolymer in aqueous media (Fig. 4). The tubes were mechanically and chemically stable and could be loaded with water-soluble substances [23],... 

The toxicity of starfishes may be derived from the saponins. The biological activities of these compounds were reported, including haemolytic properties, and antitumour [104] and antibacterial activities [105]. Inhibition activities for influenza virus multiplication, and anti-inflammatory activity towards contraction of the rat phrenic nerve diaphragm preparation, were also reported [106]. Saponins are chemical defence agents in starfishes, and they also induce escape reactions in bivalve molluscs [107]. It is of interest to note that the sperm agglutination substance in the egg jelly of starfish is similar to asterosaponin A [108]. 

Heeb, M.A., 1973. Large molecules and chemical control of feeding behaviour in the starfish Asterias forbesi. Helgol. Wiss. Meeresunter., 24 425—435. 

A 2 4- 2 strategy was employed in the chemical synthesis of a-D-Fuc-(l- -4)-a-D-Fuc-(l->4)-a-D-Qui-(l- 4)-D-Qui (Qui = 6-deoxy-D-glucose) which is a carbohydrate component of asterosaponin A from a starfish, and the multi-deoxy tetrasaccharide 17 has been found as a component of the aristostatin antibiotics. ... 

Chemical examination of the North Pacific starfish Asterias amurensis led to the isolation of a new glucocerebroside, asteracerebroside G (11) (Fig. 7),... 

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