title: Marine microorganisms as a promising and sustainable source of bioactive molecules.
abstract: There is an urgent need to discover new drug entities due to the increased incidence of severe diseases as cancer and neurodegenerative pathologies, and reducing efficacy of existing antibiotics. Recently, there is a renewed interest in exploring the marine habitat for new pharmaceuticals also thanks to the advancement in cultivation technologies and in molecular biology techniques. Microorganisms represent a still poorly explored resource for drug discovery. The possibility of obtaining a continuous source of bioactives from marine microorganisms, more amenable to culturing compared to macro-organisms, may be able to meet the challenging demands of pharmaceutical industries. This would enable a more environmentally-friendly approach to drug discovery and overcome the over-utilization of marine resources and the use of destructive collection practices. The importance of the topic is underlined by the number of EU projects funded aimed at improving the exploitation of marine organisms for drug discovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy. Electronic address: giovanna.romano@szn.it.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Costantini
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sansone
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lauritano
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy; Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant'Angelo, Via Cinthia, 80126 Napoli, Italy; Bio-Organic Chemistry Unit, Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry-CNR, Via Campi Flegrei 34, Pozzuoli, Naples 80078, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ruocco
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ianora
mesh_terms: D059001:Aquatic Organisms; D001688:Biological Products; D001709:Biotechnology; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D008386:Marine Biology; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products
keywords: Bacteria; Blue growth; Cultivation methods; Drug discovery; Marine natural products; Microalgae; Molecular biology approaches