There has been recent and older, but still ongoing research about medicines and the different useful compounds that can come from different marine invertebrates found all over the world. Many of these marine invertebrates were found to have or produce more antibiotic, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory substances than any other group of terrestrial organisms. Some of these marine invertebrates that are, or might be helpful are echinoderms, molluscs, annelids, sponges, ascidians, as well as tunicates.
One of the helpful compounds that comes from bryozoans is brystatin. It may possibly help to treat leukemia and melanoma. The bryozoan it is found in is called ‘Bugula neritina’. It was discovered by a chemist who had collected specimens off of the coast of western Florida. In 1981 the chemist, who’s name is George Peitti, found that the substance had cancer fighting characteristics, so he then isolated this certain anti-cancer substance. Experiments found that the compound attacks against some of the malignancies. Bryotatina are potent modulators of the kinase C protein. It has been shown in animal models of those with Alzheimer’s disease that a Phase 2 trial had already started by 2010, and has also been studied in people who have HIV.
A second compound is called ecteinascidin. This compound is extracted from some types of tunicates. As of right now, there are experiments being conducted in some people to test for treatment of breast cancers and ovarian cancers, as well as some other types of tumors. Sea squirts, which are a type of tunicate, were collected by people who scuba dived in some of the reefs around the West Indies. There is a biosynthetic pathway that is responsible for producing this compound. It has been discovered to come from Candidatus Endoecteinascidia Frumententis, which is a microbial symbiont of tunicates. This is being studied in people who have been recently treated with other anticancer treatment drugs. This compound extracted from tunicates could possibly kill around 743 cancer cells. This would be done by damaging their DNA and then also stopping them from dividing into more cancer cells. From reversing the genetic program created by a type of transcription factor, this compound, ecteinascidin, promotes differences and also reverses the phenotypes in the cancer cells. You can get this drug from Pharma Mar S.A., and Johnson & Johnson. It is used in Europe, Russia, and South Korea for soft-tissue sarcoma. 90% of all organisms are invertebrates, so they could be extremely useful to humans. We’ve only seen the surface of different and very useful compounds and medicines we could discover and possibly even benefit from in the ocean. In addition, we’ve only discovered 3% of the ocean, so who knows what else there could be that we could find and discover! The abundant amount of funding and large interests for big organizations like NASA should be pointed more toward ocean exploration and in medical fields. Since cancer cells divide more rapidly than our normal cells, the competing substance could have anti-cancer properties, which could be why marine invertebrates may have adapted to have these abilities and different compounds in them.