Sponges spongothymidine

Bergmarm, W. and Burke, D.C. (1955) Contribution to the study of marine products. XXXIX. The nucleosides of sponges. Spongothymidine and spongouridine./. Org. Chem., 20, 1501-1507. 

Cytosine arabinoside (69), a synthetic analog of the C-nucleosides spongouridine (70) and spongothymidine (71) from the sea sponge Cryptotheca cripta, was the first and, so far, the only marine-derived compound used routinely as an anticancer agent (110). However, a number of chemically diverse natural products from marine sources have been progressed to clinical trials. The three most advanced compounds are in phase II trials ecteinascidin-743 (72), a tetrahydroisoquino-... 

Marine life can also be a rich source of medicinal material. For example, C-nucleosides spongouridine and spongothymidine isolated from the Caribbean sponge Cryptotheca crypta possess antiviral activity. Synthetic analogues led to the development of cytosine arabinoside, a useful anticancer drug. Microbes also provide extremely useful medicines, the most famous case being penicillin... 

Spongothymidine. Ara-T Isol. from Caribbean sponge, Cryptotethia crypta. Antiviral agent. HIV reverse transcriptase (HlV-rt) inhibitor. 

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