Structure and Function of Diterpenoids from the South China Sea Corals

The structural complexity of coral diterpenoids challenges the chemical synthesis and SAR studies. This promotes a systematic study on the metabolites concerning their chemistry and bioactivity, leading to the isolation and structural elucidation of different kinds of diterpenoids. Their absolute configurations were determined by a combination of TDDFT/CD calculation and chemical methods. Potent tumor cell growth inhibitory and PTP1B inhibitory activities of these metabolites were observed and their SARs were studies. To understand the mechanism of the bioactivities, a computational method was employed to investigate the binding mode of the diterpenoids with PTP1B enzyme and the possible targets involved in cancer processes, respectively.