Abstract
Many marine invertebrates accumulate biologically active secondary metabolites. Hence, these organisms form an interesting source of novel natural products to be used as therapeutic agents. This artice gives an introduction to the biology of marine invertebrates and focuses further on their pharmacologically active constituents. Various examples of unique marine natural products are given. A few marine natural products have already entered clinical oncology phase I/II studies, e.g. bryostatin 1 and didemnin B. Several others may have potential to be used as drugs or to serve as templates for synthetic products with cytostatic, antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiparasitic or anti-inflammatory activity. Additionally, marine natural products can be used as tools for research, because of their strong and specific activity in a given physiological system. Finally, attention is given to problems related to a larger scale production of these interesting substances.
| Translated title of the contribution | Pharmacologically active compounds from marine invertebrates: Drugs from the sea |
|---|---|
| Original language | Dutch |
| Pages (from-to) | 1290-1301 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Pharmaceutisch Weekblad |
| Volume | 130 |
| Issue number | 48 |
| Publication status | Published - 1995 |