Marine niedere Tiere und Mikrobionten als Rohstoffquellen zur Gewinnung von Arzneistoffen. Projekt 1.1: Isolierung, Charakterisierung und klinische Anwendung von bioaktiven Substanzen aus marinen niederen Tieren Abschlussbericht

State of the present knowledge: Sponges as well as corals are major sources of potential pharmaceutical compounds. Rationale and aim of the study: Source for the sponges as starting material: Northern Adriatic Sea near Rovinj (Croatia). Source for the corals: Red Sea (Egypt). Low molecular weight compounds to be studied: We focused on the isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds from sponges and corals. Further class of compounds to be studied: Those compounds which are produced by the sponges and corals and which ultimately attract bacteria can be grouped to the class of proteins, and represent lectins. Also this latter class of substances has been analyzed. Method used for the study: Application of modern molecular biological-, cell biological and immunological techniques applicable for the identification and purification of bioactive compounds. Results: Low molecular weight compounds: Two compounds have been isolated and characterized: One sterol from the coral Nephthya laevis: The material, the soft coral Nephthya laevis, was collected from the Red Sea. The bioactive compound was isolated and the structure elucidated. Those analyses revealed the new compound: 22-methylene-3-#beta#-hydroxycholest-5-ene; the short name is Nepthsterol. Bioactivity: Low effect on cell proliferation of tumor cells; strong neuroprotective effect on cortical neurons (obtained from rats). One terpene from the coral Sarcophyton glaucum. Also this substance was purified and characterized. The analyses revealed a substance from the class of lactonditerpenes, and the compound was termed Sarcophytolid. Bioactivity: Strong effect on proliferation of tumor cells; no neuroprotective effect on neurons; strong effect on proliferation on human endothelial cells. Conclusion: Three products have been developed to a direction that an application appears to be realistic - however further basic studies are needed. Publications: six. (orig.)SIGLEAvailable from TIB Hannover: DtF QN1(83,11) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekBundesministerium fuer Bildung und Forschung (BMBF), Bonn (Germany)DEGerman