nervous system tumors, melanoma, ovarian cancer, renal cancer, prostate cancer,
and breast cancer. As a first step, searches are performed for the 60 types of cancer
cells for specific prescriptions. If selective activity is found in a particular cancer
cell, the human cell is transplanted to an athymic mouse for animal testing. This
system allows for logical and efficient searches for anticancer effects. Ideal though it
may be, however, it entails tremendous maintenance costs and is beyond the
capabilities of most ordinary institutes.
For this reason, several simpler search methods have been developed. One of
these is the sea urchin egg assay. Newly fertilized sea urchin eggs rapidly undergo
cell division, and the observed effects of search samples in the division process may
be used as an indicator of anticancer effects. This method can be useful not only in
tracking substances to suppress cell division, but also in studying the mechanisms
of prospective anti-cancer agents. Another advantage is that the results can be
observed quickly without the need for particular equipment or technology. Time
and effort can be saved by using this method to perform an initial search and
selection of materials, which are then subjected to a later examination for biological
applications.
In addition to the sea urchin egg assay method, the crown-gall potato disc assay
and brine shrimp bioassay methods are currently being used to examine anti-cancer
effects. A crown gall is a type of tumor that forms on plants due to the plant
bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Examination of the presence and extent of
crown gall formation when a potato section is inoculated with A. tumefaciens and a
search sample can serve as an indicator for anti-cancer effects. While the inability to
distinguish germicidal effects on A. tumefaciens and tumor suppression effects
remains a problem, experiments have shown a relatively strong correlation with the
P388 search method for biological application, which means that this can serve as a
simple laboratory-based approach.
The brine shrimp assay is a simple toxicity test, in which eggs from the brine
shrimp (Artemia salina) are incubated and the toxicity of a larva search sample is
examined to serve as an indicator of cell toxicity. While this approach cannot
strictly be called specific to examination for anti-cancer effects, it may be used as a
fast and convention method when tracking active substances.
8.2.2 Antiviral and Antibacterial Substances
While viral diseases can typically be prevented with vaccines, many of them,
including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), cannot be easily eradicated with the vaccine approach. The need for viral disease medications is growing,
yet the number of antiviral agents developed to date is not large, and those that do
exist are chiefly nucleosides (Ehresmann et al. 1977; Sastry and Rao 1994).
Sesquiterpene hydroquinone, a substance isolated from the Mediterranean
sponge Dysidea sp., possesses substantial antiviral effects, while avarone and avarol
have HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibition functions that suggest potential applications in AIDS treatment (Fig. 8.1).
232
8 Developing Functional Materials with Marine Organisms
and breast cancer. As a first step, searches are performed for the 60 types of cancer
cells for specific prescriptions. If selective activity is found in a particular cancer
cell, the human cell is transplanted to an athymic mouse for animal testing. This
system allows for logical and efficient searches for anticancer effects. Ideal though it
may be, however, it entails tremendous maintenance costs and is beyond the
capabilities of most ordinary institutes.
For this reason, several simpler search methods have been developed. One of
these is the sea urchin egg assay. Newly fertilized sea urchin eggs rapidly undergo
cell division, and the observed effects of search samples in the division process may
be used as an indicator of anticancer effects. This method can be useful not only in
tracking substances to suppress cell division, but also in studying the mechanisms
of prospective anti-cancer agents. Another advantage is that the results can be
observed quickly without the need for particular equipment or technology. Time
and effort can be saved by using this method to perform an initial search and
selection of materials, which are then subjected to a later examination for biological
applications.
In addition to the sea urchin egg assay method, the crown-gall potato disc assay
and brine shrimp bioassay methods are currently being used to examine anti-cancer
effects. A crown gall is a type of tumor that forms on plants due to the plant
bacterium Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Examination of the presence and extent of
crown gall formation when a potato section is inoculated with A. tumefaciens and a
search sample can serve as an indicator for anti-cancer effects. While the inability to
distinguish germicidal effects on A. tumefaciens and tumor suppression effects
remains a problem, experiments have shown a relatively strong correlation with the
P388 search method for biological application, which means that this can serve as a
simple laboratory-based approach.
The brine shrimp assay is a simple toxicity test, in which eggs from the brine
shrimp (Artemia salina) are incubated and the toxicity of a larva search sample is
examined to serve as an indicator of cell toxicity. While this approach cannot
strictly be called specific to examination for anti-cancer effects, it may be used as a
fast and convention method when tracking active substances.
8.2.2 Antiviral and Antibacterial Substances
While viral diseases can typically be prevented with vaccines, many of them,
including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), cannot be easily eradicated with the vaccine approach. The need for viral disease medications is growing,
yet the number of antiviral agents developed to date is not large, and those that do
exist are chiefly nucleosides (Ehresmann et al. 1977; Sastry and Rao 1994).
Sesquiterpene hydroquinone, a substance isolated from the Mediterranean
sponge Dysidea sp., possesses substantial antiviral effects, while avarone and avarol
have HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibition functions that suggest potential applications in AIDS treatment (Fig. 8.1).
232
8 Developing Functional Materials with Marine Organisms