Originally published July 3 2005
Researchers searching for treatments in bacteria found in the deep sea
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Tadeusz Molinski, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Davis, is searching for new treatments for cancer, infectious diseases and other conditions that could be made from natural products in the soft bodies of some of the ocean's simplest inhabitants.
Molinski, a professor of chemistry at the University of California, Davis, is searching for new treatments for cancer, infectious diseases and other conditions that could be made from natural products in the soft bodies of some of the ocean's simplest inhabitants.
This chemist sees natural products from marine organisms as an opportunity to answer questions in biology and find potential leads for the next generation of drugs, whether those are anti-fungals or treatments for cancer.
Molinski's laboratory studies the chemistry and biology of marine natural products, or chemical compounds made by sea creatures.
It is part of a developing focus on pharmaceutical chemistry within the UC Davis chemistry department, including research on biologically active molecules and high-throughput screening techniques.
Most of Molinski's samples come from sponges and tunicates, marine creatures that can neither swim away from a diver nor bite.
Some of these compounds have biochemical activities that could be useful in medicine -- killing microbes, stopping growth of cancer cells, or affecting the flow of calcium in and out of cells.
"They're really fascinating little jewels made by niche creatures."
As well as being largely unexplored, the chemistry of these marine organisms is very different than that of land plants and animals, reflecting both a different environment and millions of years of separate evolution.
Molinski, a certified diver, and his graduate students make regular collecting trips to study sites in Micronesia, Western Australia and -- using a seagoing vessel, the R/V Seward Johnson based in Florida -- the Atlantic Ocean around the Bahamas.
Phorboxazole A is a potent toxin that in the laboratory, can inhibit the growth of a wide range of tumor cell types even at very low concentrations.
Xestospongins block the ability of a signaling molecule called inositol 1,4,5 trisphosphate (IP3) to trigger the release of calcium within cells.
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