Macromarines tunicates

Macromarines A Selective Account of the Potential of Marine Sponges, Molluscs, Soft Corals and Tunicates as a Source of Therapeutically Important Molecular Structures... 

This chapter reviews a selection of marine invertebrates and the compounds isolated from them which have therapeutic potential. The major phyla of macromarines discussed include the marine Porifera, Mollusca, the soft corals of Cnidaria and the tunicates which belong to the sub-phylum of Urochordates. The isolation, synthesis, preclinical data and structure-activity relationships (SARs) are discussed for a selection of pharmacologically important chemical structures for each of the four groups. 

A number of historically significant marine natural products have established macromarines as a valuable source of physiologically active molecular scaffolds. In addition, many of the compounds illustrated in this work are currently in clinical development. Unfortunately, the journey from initial isolation to clinical development has ended for a number of notable compounds. Among the list found in Table 6.1 are leads obtained from the macromarines such as sponges, tunicates and molluscs. Although synthetic derivatives often attempt... 

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