title: Apoptosis inducing lead compounds isolated from marine organisms of potential relevance in cancer treatment.
abstract: Apoptosis is a critical defense mechanism against the formation and progression of cancer and exhibits distinct morphological and biochemical traits. Targeting apoptotic pathways becomes an intriguing strategy for the development of chemotherapeutic agents particularly if the process is selective to cancer cells. Marine natural products have become important sources in the discovery of antitumour drugs, especially when recent technological and methodological advances have increased the scope of investigations of marine organisms. A high number of individual compounds from diverse organisms have induced apoptosis in several tumour cell lines via a number of mechanisms. Here, we review the effects of selected marine natural products and their synthetic derivatives on apoptosis signalling pathways in association with their pharmacological properties. Providing an outlook into the future, we also examine the factors that contribute to new discoveries and the difficulties associated with translating marine-derived compounds into clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: ANDI Centre of Excellence for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius; Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius; Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius.
authors.forename: Rima
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beesoo
authors.affiliation: ANDI Centre of Excellence for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius; Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius.
authors.forename: Vidushi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Neergheen-Bhujun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius.
authors.forename: Ranjeet
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhagooli
authors.affiliation: ANDI Centre of Excellence for Biomedical and Biomaterials Research, University of Mauritius, Reduit, Mauritius. Electronic address: tbahorun@uom.ac.mu.
authors.forename: Theeshan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bahorun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000737:chemistry*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D007854:Lead
keywords: Antitumour drugs; Apoptosis; Cancer; Marine natural products