{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,26]],"date-time":"2025-11-26T05:31:04Z","timestamp":1764135064124,"version":"3.46.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,24]],"date-time":"2025-11-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1763942400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Shandong Laboratory Program","award":["SYS202205"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SYS202205"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["82404502","82304375"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82404502","82304375"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Key R&D Program of Shandong Province, China","award":["2024CXPT029","2025CXPT012"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2024CXPT029","2025CXPT012"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Marine Drugs"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Two previously undescribed highly oxygenated cembrane-type diterpenes, namely sarcocraol A (1) and sarcocraol B (2), along with five known compounds (3\u20137), have been isolated from the soft coral Sarcophyton crassocaule collected off Ximao Island in the South China Sea. Their structures were determined through comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, QM-NMR calculations, TDDFT-ECD computation, X-ray diffraction analysis, and by comparison with literature data. Plausible biosynthetic pathways for these compounds were also proposed. All compounds were evaluated for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) transcriptional activity using luciferase assay. The bioassay results demonstrated that compound 1 exhibits selective PPAR-\u03b3 agonistic activity. Furthermore, it promoted glucose uptake in HepG2 cells by 1.18-, 1.45-, and 1.90-fold at concentrations of 2.5, 5, and 10 \u03bcM, respectively, whereas rosiglitazone (10 \u03bcM) produced a 2.47-fold increase over the induced control. Compound 1 at 10 \u03bcM induced mild lipid accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells, showing a 1.63-fold increase relative to the control, which was much lower than the 3.28-fold increase observed in rosiglitazone (10 \u03bcM) group indicating its potential antidiabetic properties. These findings suggested that compound 1 could be a promising lead for the development of antidiabetic agents.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/md23120450","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,25]],"date-time":"2025-11-25T08:50:20Z","timestamp":1764060620000},"page":"450","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Novel PPAR-\u03b3 Agonist from the Soft Coral Sarcophyton crassocaule: Modulating Glucose Uptake and Lipid Droplet Formation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Jian-Ang","family":"Zeng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for the Development and Utilization of Mangrove Wetland Medicinal Resources, The Key Lab of Zhanjiang for R&D Marine Microbial Resources in the Beibu Gulf Rim, School of Ocean and Tropical Medicine, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang 524023, China"},{"name":"Shandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai 264117, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Min","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai 264117, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Qi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for the Development and Utilization of Mangrove Wetland Medicinal Resources, The Key Lab of Zhanjiang for R&D Marine Microbial Resources in the Beibu Gulf Rim, School of Ocean and Tropical Medicine, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang 524023, China"},{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510632, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-9828-7431","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Song-Wei","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Li-Ting","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai 264117, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Si-Min","family":"Pan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai 264117, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0413-2070","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yue-Wei","family":"Guo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai 264117, China"},{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510632, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ming-Zhi","family":"Su","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shandong Laboratory of Yantai Drug Discovery, Bohai Rim Advanced Research Institute for Drug Discovery, Yantai 264117, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6121-1715","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hui","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center for the Development and Utilization of Mangrove Wetland Medicinal Resources, The Key Lab of Zhanjiang for R&D Marine Microbial Resources in the Beibu Gulf Rim, School of Ocean and Tropical Medicine, Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang 524023, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.med.53.082901.104018","article-title":"The Mechanisms of Action of PPARs","volume":"53","author":"Berger","year":"2002","journal-title":"Annu. 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