Therapeutic Application of Diverse Marine-derived Natural Products in Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Natural products (NPs) are useful sources of bioactive compounds and play important roles in the development and discovery of new drugs for diverse human diseases. Most natural products originate from terrestrial species, but diverse marine organisms are another source of new agents for cancer therapy. Natural products derived from marine organisms show diverse pharmacological activities via bioactive secondary metabolites. They regulate biological activities, such as cell proliferation, cell viability, induction of ROS production, ER stress, and apoptosis via modulation of cellular mechanisms in many cancers. Many natural products isolated from marine species require further study to elucidate the efficacy of their biological activity and anticancer effects. In this review, we summarize the biological properties and anticancer effects of diverse natural products extracted from marine organisms and their roles in tumor therapy. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death and an economic burden worldwide (1). Cancer involves an abnormal proliferation of cells and tissues, and is affected by various risk factors such as age, diet, genetics, and environmental factors (2, 3). It is also caused by the mutation of several cancer-related genes called tumor suppressors and oncogenes (4). Cancer also presents the ability of metastasis and recurrence, which are difficult to treat (5). Although conventional anticancer therapy includes both chemotherapy to induce apoptosis of target cancer cells and surgical therapy to remove tumors, these methods are limited by issues of therapeutic efficacy, safety, and side effects. Thus, it is necessary to develop novel strategies for cancer therapy, and natural products (NPs) are a promising source for novel drug development because they show diverse biological activities and anticancer effects via inhibition of tumor growth by interacting with several signaling pathways (6, 7). NPs have been a useful source of bioactive compounds and play an important role in the discovery and development of drugs. Most NPs, originated from terrestrial microbes, fungi, and plants, have been discovered to possess many pharmacologically active factors and used to treat several human diseases. Some of these are utilized as clinically valuable drugs for anticancer therapy (8-10). However, marine organisms have recently attracted substantial attention because 70% of the earth is covered by water, representing 95% of biodiversity (11-13). NPs derived from marine organisms have been researched for novel bioactive secondary metabolites due to their diverse pharmacological activities. Marine environments are estimated to harbor more than one million species and one billion different types of marine microbes (14). Today, around 28,000 new compounds isolated from marine species, such as algae, seaweed, sponges, and starfish, have been reported, and this species diversity provides a diverse array of secondary metabolic products (15, 16). In this review, we present NPs derived from marine environments, and summari...

Antitumor Effects of a Sesquiterpene Derivative from Marine Sponge in Human Breast Cancer Cells

“…Accumulating evidence indicates that natural products are useful sources of secondary metabolites, and they play an important role in cancer therapy [ 7 , 29 ]. It has been reported that ilimaquinone can inhibit the growth of various cancer cells [ 13 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ].…”

“…For example, paclitaxel from Taxus brevifolia has been approved by the FDA for treating breast cancer and ovarian cancer since 1992 [ 6 ]. Recently, secondary metabolites from marine organisms have garnered considerable attention owing to their therapeutic application in cancer therapies [ 7 ]. Previous studies have shown that polysaccharides from red seaweed inhibit cell growth by inducing apoptosis in various cancer cell lines, including breast cancer [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Seaweeds’ nutraceutical and biomedical potential in cancer therapy: a concise review

“…The wide range of molecular targets and carcinogenesis mechanisms allows a further exploitation of natural anti-cancer agents efficient in one particular step of all core steps from carcinogenesis [192] . The main targets where anti-cancer therapeutics usually work could be: preventing cell resistance to apoptosis or cell cycle checkpoints modifications, directly protecting DNA from damage or enhancing DNA repair mechanisms, and/or protecting against oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species (ROS) [93,[193][194][195][196] . Natural compounds have gained interest due to the increase of cancer resistance and undesirable side effects among synthetic choices.…”

Quantitative proteomics analysis of differentially expressed proteins induced by astragaloside IV in cervical cancer cell invasion

“…There are about 350,000 plant species on earth, which have been a major source of medicines for a long time. The Chinese began to use herbs to treat cancer, as well as cardiovascular and other incurable diseases, several thousands of years ago [9,10]. Astragalus roots which have been used in traditional Chinese medicine include those of Astragalus mongholicus and A. membranaceus [11].…”