Marine Natural Products: A Source of Novel Anticancer Drugs
Shaden A. M. Khalifa,
Nizar Elias,
Mohamed A. Farag,
Lei Chen,
Aamer Saeed,
Mohamed-Elamir F. Hegazy,
Moustafa S. Moustafa,
Aida Abd El-Wahed,
Saleh M. Al-Mousawi,
Syed G. Musharraf,
Fang-Rong Chang,
Arihiro Iwasaki,
Kiyotake Suenaga,
Muaaz Alajlani,
Ulf Göransson,
Hesham R. El-Seedi
Affiliations
Shaden A. M. Khalifa
Clinical Research Centre, Karolinska University Hospital, Novum, 14157 Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden
Nizar Elias
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kalamoon, P.O. Box 222 Dayr Atiyah, Syria
Mohamed A. Farag
Pharmacognosy Department, College of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Kasr el Aini St., P.B. 11562 Cairo, Egypt
Lei Chen
College of Food Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002, China
Aamer Saeed
Department of Chemitry, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
Mohamed-Elamir F. Hegazy
Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Institute of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Johannes Gutenberg University, Staudingerweg 5, 55128 Mainz, Germany
Moustafa S. Moustafa
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Kuwait, 13060 Safat, Kuwait
Aida Abd El-Wahed
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Kuwait, 13060 Safat, Kuwait
Saleh M. Al-Mousawi
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Kuwait, 13060 Safat, Kuwait
Syed G. Musharraf
H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan
Fang-Rong Chang
Graduate Institute of Natural Products, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan
Arihiro Iwasaki
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
Kiyotake Suenaga
Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
Muaaz Alajlani
Department of Pharmaceutical Biology/Pharmacognosy, Institute of Pharmacy, University of HalleWittenberg, Hoher Weg 8, DE 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany
Ulf Göransson
Pharmacognosy, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Box 574, SE-75 123 Uppsala, Sweden
Hesham R. El-Seedi
Pharmacognosy, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Box 574, SE-75 123 Uppsala, Sweden
Cancer remains one of the most lethal diseases worldwide. There is an urgent need for new drugs with novel modes of action and thus considerable research has been conducted for new anticancer drugs from natural sources, especially plants, microbes and marine organisms. Marine populations represent reservoirs of novel bioactive metabolites with diverse groups of chemical structures. This review highlights the impact of marine organisms, with particular emphasis on marine plants, algae, bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi, sponges and soft corals. Anti-cancer effects of marine natural products in in vitro and in vivo studies were first introduced; their activity in the prevention of tumor formation and the related compound-induced apoptosis and cytotoxicities were tackled. The possible molecular mechanisms behind the biological effects are also presented. The review highlights the diversity of marine organisms, novel chemical structures, and chemical property space. Finally, therapeutic strategies and the present use of marine-derived components, its future direction and limitations are discussed.
