The ovary of the starfish Asterias amurensis contains various kinds of steroidal saponins. The structure of one of the major saponins, designated ovarian asterosaponin4, was elucidated by several chemical modifications and spectroscopic analyses. The structure was formulated as 20α-hydroxy-6α-O-{6-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranosyl(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranosyl(1→4)-[6-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranosyl (1→2)]-β-D-xylopyranosyl(1→3)-6-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranosyl}-3β-sulfo-oxy-5α-cholesta-9(11), 24-diene. Ovarian asterosaponin-4 at 125 μg/ml inhibited spontaneous oocyte maturation of the starfish, and the inhibition could be overcome by adding 1×10^-6M of 1-methyladenine, the maturation-inducing substance of the starfishes, to the oocyte.

This article cannot obtain the latest cited-by information.