Anticancer and cytotoxic compounds from seashells of the Persian Gulf

• Main Authors: Iraj Nabipour, Arezoo Najafi, Amir Reza Bolkheir
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bushehr University of Medical Sciences 2009-12-01
• Series: Iranian South Medical Journal
• Subjects: seashell; anticancer; marine; cytotoxic; Persian Gulf
• Online Access: http://ismj.bpums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3-175&slc_lang=en&sid=1

Background: Pre-clinical studies for isolation and purification of marine compounds continued at an active pace since the last decade. Today, more than 60% of the anticancer drugs commercially available are of naturally origin thus the sea is a very favorable bed for the discovery of novel anticancer agents. Methods: A total of known 611 seashells species in the Persian Gulf were investigated for synonymy in OBIS database. Then, all the species, including their synonymy were searched in PubMed databse to find their isolated bioactive agents. Results: From 611 known seashells in the Persian Gulf, 172 genera/species had bioactive compounds. Anticancer agents were isolated and purified for 8 genera. These compounds had various structures they were polypeptide, polysaccharide, glycoprotein, alkaloid, cerebroside, and cembranoid which had different mechanism of actions including induction of apoptosis, destroying the skeletal structures of the cells, immune bioactivity and inhibition of topoisomerase I. Spisulosine is the only anticancer agent which is currently under clinical trial. Conclusions: Although, the known seashells from the Persian Gulf have potential anticancer and cytotoxic compounds but a very few investigations had been reported. Further investigations for isolation and purification on bioactive compounds from seashells of the Persian Gulf is recommended.