Synthesis and evaluation of hermitamides A and B as human voltage-gated sodium channel blockers

Hermitamides A and B are lipopeptides isolated from a Papau New Guinea collection of the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula. We hypothesized that the hermitamides are ligands for the human voltage-gated sodium channel (hNaV) based on their structural similarity to the jamaicamides. Herein, we describe the nonracemic total synthesis of hermitamides A and B and their epimers. We report the ability of the hermitamides to displace [3H]-BTX at 10 μM more potently than phenytoin, a clinically used sodium channel blocker. We also present a potential binding mode for (S)-hermitamide B in the BTX-binding site and electrophysiology showing that these compounds are potent blockers of the hNav1.2 voltage-gated sodium channel.