P13 - Marine Compounds as a Promising Source for the Development of Novel Anticancer Drugs

Sergey Dyshlovoy
Department of Internal Medicine II (Oncology Center), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf ; Martini-Klinik at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

In the last decades, marine organisms have served as a source of new potent anticancer drugs. Sessile marine organisms are exposed to special conditions on the seabed, such as high pressure or salinity. Added to this is the need to defend themselves against possible predators. This favors the synthesis of unusual chemical compounds.

In collaboration with medical chemists we have analyzed over 400 novel compounds isolated from marine objects, such as bacteria, fungi, marine sponges, alga and others. The most promising substances in this collection were submitted for further investigation. Chemical modifications were made to the basic structures to improve selectivity and activity. To date, we have identified several novel compounds showing promising activity in prostate cancer models with different levels of drug resistance. Most notable, however, is the ability of marine drugs to synergize with currently available standard therapies or reverse existing resistance to these treatment approaches. In addition, for some marine drugs, novel unusual molecular targets have been discovered which makes when not only to promising candidates for new anticancer drugs, but also attractive biochemical research tools, which could be used in various scientific projects far beyond the cancer research field.

Contact: s.dyshlovoy@uke.de