Bryostatin
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Bryostatins are a group of macrocyclic lactones first discovered in the late 1960s in a species of bryozoan, Bugula neritina. Believed to be produced by symbiont bacteria to protect the bryozoan larva from predation, they have cytotoxic properties and are under investigation as anti-cancer agents.
In vitro trials have shown bryostatins to act synergistically with other anti-cancer drugs and to modulate protein kinase C (PKC) activity, with a potent antileukemic effect and action against lung, prostate and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma tumor cells.
Human clinical trials have been less promising, but suggest bryostatins to have a potentially useful synergistic action with other chemotherapeutic agents.
The low concentration in bryozoans (to extract one gram of bryostatin, roughly one tonne of the raw bryozoans is needed) makes extraction unviable for large scale production. Due to the structural complexity, synthesis has proved difficult, with only a few total syntheses reported so far.
[edit] External links
- Drugs from the seas – current status and microbiological implications, Proksch P, Edrada RA, Ebel R, Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2002 Jul;59(2-3):125-34.
- Bryostatin 1 Aphios report
- Bryostatins 1-3 QXHealth summary
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