Abstract
Marine sponges represent a vast source of metabolites with very interesting potential biomedical applications. Puupehenones are sesquiterpene quinones isolated from sponges of the orders Verongida and Dictyoceratida. This family of chemical compounds is composed of a high number of metabolites, including puupehenone, the most characteristic compound of the family. Chemical synthesis of puupehenone has been reached by different routes, and the special chemical reactivity of this molecule has allowed the synthesis of many puupehenone-derived compounds. The biological activities of puupehenones are very diverse, including antiangiogenic, antitumoral, antioxidant, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory and antiatherosclerotic effects. Despite the very important roles described for puupehenones concerning different pathologies, the exact mechanism of action of these compounds and the putative therapeutic effects in vivo remain to be elucidated. This review offers an updated and global view about the biology of puupehenones and their therapeutic possibilities in human diseases such as cancer.
Highlights
Natural products under investigation have a wide variety of origins, but some of the most important sources of candidate compounds for biomedical applications are marine organisms
The soft body of the majority of sponges and the incapacity of movement make these organisms a perfect target for predators; the adaptive strategy of sponges to such threats is the synthesis of chemical compounds that have a defensive role to deter predators [1]
Puupehenone and other related compounds exhibit very potent cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities, pointing to their possible role as defensive weapons in sponges. Apart from these detected activities that could be important in the chemical ecology of sponges, the exact role of puupehenones in sponges’ biology is not fully defined, an interesting mechanism has been proposed for puupehenone by which this metabolite could participate in the detoxification of excess of hydrogen cyanide (HCN), probably produced by sponges as chemical weapon with defensive purpose [6]
Summary
The need of new pharmacological approaches for the treatment of certain refractory diseases is the starting point for a growing research field in recent years. Puupehenone and other related compounds exhibit very potent cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities, pointing to their possible role as defensive weapons in sponges. Apart from these detected activities that could be important in the chemical ecology of sponges, the exact role of puupehenones in sponges’ biology is not fully defined, an interesting mechanism has been proposed for puupehenone by which this metabolite could participate in the detoxification of excess of hydrogen cyanide (HCN), probably produced by sponges as chemical weapon with defensive purpose [6]. Our group has contributed to the knowledge of puupehenones, focusing on their activity as antiangiogenic and pro-apoptotic compounds [8,9] Their potential as antitumoral compounds makes puupehenones a very interesting family of metabolites for biomedical and pharmaceutical research. The information compiled in this review tries to provide an updated and global view about puupehenones’ biology and their therapeutic possibilities
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