Bioactive natural products from marine sources

Abstract

Natural products from plants and microorganisms have traditionally provided the pharmaceutical industry with one of its most important sources of “lead” compounds in the search for new drugs and medicines. Although twenty thousand plant species are used in traditional medicines, most species have not been thoroughly examined chemically or pharmacologically. Natural product research is increasingly turning to marine animals, plants and microbes as source organisms. The oceans with their millions of species are a rich source of marine plants and animals. In recent years, a number of potential therapeutic agents have been isolated from marine flora and fauna. Several marine natural products are currently in preclinical and clinical evaluation, others show promising biological activities in vitro and in vivo assays, and others are making significant contributions to our understanding of cellular processes at the biochemical level. Although only initiated in the late 1970s, natural drug discovery from thev world's oceans has been accelerated by the chemical uniqueness of marine organisms, and by the need to develop drugs for contemporary, difficult to cure, diseases. The isolation, structure, biological activities, chemical properties and synthesis of compounds from marine sources, have attracted the attention of chemists, biologists and pharmacists. Current research activities have generated convincing evidence that marine drug discovery has an exceedingly bright future. This article deals principally with bioactive constituents characterized in tha past decade from marine sources in order to obtain a better understanding of the biological significance of marine flora and fauna. The structural diversity of the medicinal constituents is discussed.