Metagenomics has revealed that the marine microbial biosphere is immensely more diverse than originally considered, and is an almost untapped reservoir for the potential discovery of microbial natural products. Despite numerous advances in culturing, biosynthetic engineering and genomic-based screening efforts to uncover much of this diversity in relatively accessible environments,...
Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors have the potential to de-repress epigenetically silenced genes in cancer cells, leading to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Dietary HDAC inhibitors derived from natural phytochemicals are promising anticancer agents. In this thesis, metabolites from natural organosulfur and organoselenium compounds, i.e. allyl mercaptan (AM), β-methylselenopyruvate (MSP) and...
Met is a prognostic indicator of colorectal cancer patient survival. Therapies that target Met may therefore have beneficial outcomes in the clinic. Recently, EGCG was reported to suppress Met activation, although the mechanisms were not elucidated. HCT116 and HT29 human colon cancer cells were used to examine the relationships between...
Our quest for pharmaceutically important marine natural products led to re-isolation of known mandelalides A-D and identification of new congeners E-L from re-collected South African Lissoclinum tunicate specimens. Mandelalides A, B, and L were characterized as selective cancer cell toxins, with an unusual activity profile influenced by their glycosylation /...