{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,3]],"date-time":"2026-10-03T04:50:49Z","timestamp":1791003049636,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,8]],"date-time":"2023-05-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1683504000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Marine Drugs"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The marine environment is considered a vast source in the discovery of structurally unique bioactive secondary metabolites. Among marine invertebrates, the sponge Theonella spp. represents an arsenal of novel compounds ranging from peptides, alkaloids, terpenes, macrolides, and sterols. In this review, we summarize the recent reports on sterols isolated from this amazing sponge, describing their structural features and peculiar biological activities. We also discuss the total syntheses of solomonsterols A and B and the medicinal chemistry modifications on theonellasterol and conicasterol, focusing on the effect of chemical transformations on the biological activity of this class of metabolites. The promising compounds identified from Theonella spp. possess pronounced biological activity on nuclear receptors or cytotoxicity and result in promising candidates for extended preclinical evaluations. The identification of naturally occurring and semisynthetic marine bioactive sterols reaffirms the utility of examining natural product libraries for the discovery of new therapeutical approach to human diseases.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/md21050291","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,9]],"date-time":"2023-05-09T01:06:28Z","timestamp":1683594388000},"page":"291","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Theonella: A Treasure Trove of Structurally Unique and Biologically Active Sterols"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8879-4332","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carmen","family":"Festa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples, Via Domenico Montesano, 49, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0300-5048","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Simona","family":"De Marino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples, Via Domenico Montesano, 49, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6170-279X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angela","family":"Zampella","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples, Via Domenico Montesano, 49, 80131 Naples, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3816-4222","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Fiorucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Piazza L. Severi, 1, 06132 Perugia, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1836","DOI":"10.1021\/jo00322a019","article-title":"Sterols in marine invertebrates. 22. Isolation and structure elucidation of conicasterol and theonellasterol, two new 4-methylene sterols from the red sea sponges Theonella conica and Theonella swinhoei","volume":"46","author":"Kho","year":"1981","journal-title":"J. Org. Chem."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2643","DOI":"10.3390\/md9122643","article-title":"Natural products from the Lithistida: A review of the literature","volume":"9","author":"Winder","year":"2011","journal-title":"Mar. 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