Stomphia coccinea

Many starfish cause an escape response in usually sessile marine invertebrates [7]. The starfish Dermasterias imbricata causes the sea anemone Stomphia coccinea to release its basal disc from the substratum and swim away on contact. Bioassay-directed fractionation of the starfish extract led to the isolation of the compound found to elicit this response, the benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid imbricatine (646). The structure of compound 646 was elucidated by spectral data interpretation. The amino acid residue in imbricatine is related to the thiol containing amino acids ovothiols A-C. Imbricatine (646) is active in both LI210 and P388... 

Imbricatine. C24H26N4O7S, Mr 514.55, a benzyl(tet-rahydro)isoquinoline and imidazole alkaloid from the starfish Dermasterias imbricata. I. is as yet the only alkaloid of this class that does not originate from a plant source. I. induces an escape reaction in the sea anemone Stomphia coccinea when it comes into contact with the starfish. I. has cytotoxic activity against leukemia cell lines. 

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