Macrocyclic marine natural products: leads in the drug discovery process for potential glioma therapeutics

Coiba National Park harbors a marine cyanobacterium that produces coibamide A, a unique depsipeptide with potential as a glioma therapeutic. This compound demonstrates exceptional potency and selectivity against glioblastoma cell lines, inducing G1 arrest and triggering cell death in vitro while significantly reducing tumor volume in vivo. Coibamide A also exhibits antiangiogenic properties by decreasing VEGFA and VEGFR2 expression, suggesting it targets the cellular secretory pathway. The study leverages a bioluminescence-based assay to screen compounds that inhibit this pathway, aiming to identify novel therapeutics for glioblastoma multiforme.

Ishmael, J. E., Serrill, J. D., Wan, X., Alani, A. W., & McPhail, K. L. (2016). Macrocyclic marine natural products: leads in the drug discovery process for potential glioma therapeutics. The FASEB Journal, 30(S1). Portico. https://doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.30.1_supplement.1272.10