Angiogenesis Inhibitors and Cytotoxic Compounds from Marine Actinomycetes

Abstract

Marine microorganisms have been recognized as a promising source for the production of bioactive secondary metabolites. However, marine actinomycetes have been largely ignored until recently.1 To search for new bioactive marine natural products, we have isolated more than 4,000 strains of marine-derived actinomycetes from the various marine samples such as deep sea and shallow water sediments, marine seaweed and invertebrates. We also have established that about 10% of isolates show some bioactivity in our assays such as cytotoxicity, anti-angiogenic, antimicrobial, antifungal, and enzyme inhibitory activities. From the active strains, we could isolate several potent angiogenesis inhibitors and cytotoxic compounds. We present here the discovery of angiogenesis inhibitors and cytotoxic compounds from marine-derived actinomycetes. The isolation, structure determination, and biological activities of the secondary metabolites from marine actinomycetes will be the focus of this presentation.