Microbial anticancer agents

B. The unexplored potential of E. Microbial anticancer agents REFERENCES... 

Microorganisms, particularly bacteria and fungi, have also proved to be a rich source of bioactive molecules such as antibiotics and anticancer agents (Chapter 1). Again, as in the case of plants, an incredibly rich array of microbial species inhabit the earth and their characteristic metabolic flexibility generates an enormous bank of potential pharmaceutical products. Most... 

Microbial sources have been a very rich source for cancer chemotherapeutic agents. Of particular note is the Strep-tomyces spp., which has been responsible for the production of many approved anticancer agents that are in clinical practice. These agents are represented by highly diverse structural classes exemplified by the anthracycline family (e.g., doxom-bicin, 73) (72-74), actinomycin family (e.g., dactinomycin, 74), glycopeptides family (e.g., bleomycins A2 and B2, 75 and 76) (75), and mitomycin family (e.g., mitomycin C, 77) (72, 76). All these compounds specifically interact with DNA for then-mode of action. 

Although use of marine microbial sources for the discovery of natural products is a somewhat recent phenomenon, marine natural products from higher species have contributed tremendously to the discovery of novel architecturally complex compounds as anticancer agent leads with one, Ecteinascidin-743, now approved in the European Union for treatment of sarcoma. The discovery of natural products derived from marine sources exploded in the 1970s not only because of increased... 

As in the case of microbially derived anticancer agents (Section IV.E.2.), interested readers can consult the information on podophyUotoxin and derivatives, the vinca alkaloids and derivatives, and camptothecin and derivatives in the recent volume edited by the authors of this chapter. 

The discovery that several major anticancer drugs, originally isolated from plants, are produced by associated endophytic fungi (Section III.B.3.) opens up further avenues for exploring the large-scale production of plant-derived pharmaceuticals. Likewise, the probable role of microbial symbionts in the production of bioactive agents from marine macroorganisms (Section III.B.4.) offers... 

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