MARINE ORGANISMS ARE A PROMISING SOURCE OF NEW ANTITUMOR AGENTS.

MARINE ORGANISMS ARE A PROMISING SOURCE OF NEW ANTITUMOR AGENTS. INTERTIDAL ZONES ARE THE LEAST STUDIED OF MARINE HABITATS IN THIS RESPECT, ALTHOUGH THESE DYNAMIC AND STRESSFUL ENVIRONMENTS MAY PROMOTE THE PRODUCTION OF SECONDARY METABOLITES WITH PHARMACOLOGIC ACTIVITY. SEAPHARMPROPOSES TO COLLECT AND EVALUATE FOR ANTITUMOR ACTIVITY 200 TO 400 MARINE ORGANISMS OVER A WIDE RANGE OF SPECIES FROM THREE DIVERSE INTERTIDAL ZONES; ROCK SHORES, SAND BEACHES, AND MUD FLATS. RESEARCHERS WILL ALSO EVALUATE SAMPLES FROM MANGROVE SWAMPS, AS PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE HAS SHOWN THIS TO BEA PRODUCTIVE AREA. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL EVALUATE A LARGE NUMBER OF ORGANISMS FROM DIVERSE INTERTIDAL ENVIRONMENTS TO DETERMINE THE POTENTIAL OF THESE AREAS AND SPECIES TYPES FOR PRODUCING NOVEL ANTICANCER AGENTS AND TO PROVIDE A BASIS FOR FURTHER STUDIES. EXTRACTS WILL BE TESTED FOR IN VITRO ANTITUMOR ACTIVITY AGAINST THE P388 MURINE LEUKEMIA AND THREE HUMAN CELL LINES, AND CELL EXTRACTS WILL BE SUBMITTED FOR TESTING IN HUMAN TUMOR CELL LINES. CHEMICAL ISOLATION, PURIFICATION, AND STRUCTURE ELUCIDATION WILL BE INITIATED FOR THE MOST PROMISING AGENTS.PHASE II STUDIES MAY INCLUDE IN VIVO STUDIES OF PROMISING AGENTS, INCREASED COLLECTIONS IN THE FLORIDA KEYS AREA, AND EXPANSION OF INTERTIDAL COLLECTIONS TO OTHER REGIONS SUCH ASWARM AND COLD TEMPERATE ZONES AND THE TROPICAL INDO-PACIFIC REGION.