Anticancer agents from marine sponges

Abstract

Marine sponges are currently one of the richest sources of anticancer active compounds found in the marine ecosystems. More than 5300 different known metabolites are from sponges and their associated microorganisms. To survive in the complicated marine environment, most of the sponge species have evolved chemical means to defend against predation. Such chemical adaptation produces many biologically active secondary metabolites including anticancer agents. This review highlights novel secondary metabolites in sponges which inhibited diverse cancer species in the recent 5 years. These natural products of marine sponges are categorized based on various chemical characteristics.

Keywords::

• activity
• anticancer agents
• IC₅₀
• isolated
• marine sponge
• natural product

Acknowledgments

The authors thank funds from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30973681) and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. Y2080750).