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Medications Produced out the Marine Organisms
The Laboratory of Synthesis of Natural Compounds and the Department of Organic Chemistry of the FEFU School of Natural Sciences conduct research on the development of a new generation of advanced medications that would be based on the natural compounds extracted from marine organisms. Among them a special place is occupied by alkaloids of fascaplysin and kouropitin (tryptanthrin) groups.
Fascaplysin possesses a wide range of bioactive properties and combines its antibacterial, anti-fungal and antiviral capacity with an ability to suppress a growth of different malignant tumors. Its action mechanism is unique, which makes fascaplysin a promising and a leading compound for the development of a new type of anti-tumor medications. Triptantrin on the other hand is a specific inhibitor of inflammatory processes, which allows using this compound as an effective and cheap anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-parasitic and anti-tuberculous medication. Due to the insufficient availability of these alkaloids in the natural environment, development of effective methods of their production becomes a pressing issue.
The Laboratory not only deals with this issue, but also conducts research on optimization of a structure of compounds under study by methods of computer modeling in order to enhance their biological effects. At the same time the researchers develop approaches towards a targeted synthesis of enhanced compounds by comparing them and by selecting the most active substances that would be used to create better drug compositions.