The sea offers a wide variety of potentially useful resources. Marine algae have been a rich source of structurally unique natural products showing diverse biological properties. The current need to develop new antifungal, antibiotic, anticancer and antiviral drugs has prompted intense research efforts into the discovery, isolation and structure determination...
Following surveys of seaweeds in Oregon and the Caribbean, four algal species were selected for study on the basis of their crude extract biological activity or thin-layer chromatographic characteristics. Extracts were fractionated by normal phase chromatography, including high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Derivatives (methyl esters, acetates, and benzoates) of natural...
I have participated in a drug discovery program designed to screen marine algae for
inhibitors of cancer-related enzymes, antitumor compounds, antiinflammatory substances,
and other agents of potential pharmaceutical utility. Over 1,500 lipid and aqueous extracts
of marine plants and animals were surveyed for biomedical potential. Assays designed to
screen extracts...
Marine algae have been recognized as a rich resource of new
and unusual organic molecules with diverse biological properties.
The current need to develop new antifungal, anticancer, antibiotic
and antiviral drugs has led to an intense research effort into the
discovery, isolation and structure determination of potential
medicinal agents from...
My investigations of the natural products of marine algae have resulted in
the discovery of several new secondary metabolites. Bioassay-guided
fractionation led to the isolation of these new compounds and spectroscopic
analysis was utilized in their structural characterization.
Two new and potent antimitotic metabolites, curacins B and C, were
isolated...
The marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula has proven to be extraordinarily rich in bioactive secondary metabolites. This dissertation describes the chemistry of L. majuscula collected from Grenada, Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and the biosyntheses of two L. majuscula metabolites, curacin A and barbamide.
The chemical studies with a Grenada collection...