Anticancer, Anti Chemo Tactic and Antimicrobial Activities of Marine Sponges

Anticancer, antichemotactic and antimicrobial

activities of marine sponges collected off the coast

of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil

Noel R. Monksa,*, Clea Lernerb, Amelia T. Henriquesc,Fabiane M. Fariasc, Elfrides E.S. Schapovalc, Edna S. Suyenagac,Adriana B. da Rochaa,d, Gilberto Schwartsmanna,d, Beatriz Mothesb

aCentro Integrado do Cancer (CINCAN), Universidade Luterana do Brazil (ULBRA), Rua Miguel Tostes 101,

Canoas 92420-280, RS, BrazilbFundac�ao Zoobotanica, Museu de Ciencias Naturais, Rio Grande Sul, Rua Dr. Salvador Franca 1427,

Porto Alegre 90690-000, RS, BrazilcFaculdade de Farmacia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do SUL (UFRGS), Avenida Ipiranga 2752,

Porto Alegre 90610-000, RS, BrazildSouth American Office for Anticancer Drug Development (SOAD), Hospital de Clınicas de Porto Alegre,

Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2350, Porto Alegre 90035-003, RS, Brazil

Received 10 July 2002; received in revised form 22 August 2002; accepted 30 August 2002

Abstract

This study reports the in vitro screening of 10 marine sponges (Porifera) collected from the

coastline of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, in the search for novel pharmaceuticals. Organic and

aqueous extracts were tested for anticancer, antibacterial, antifungal and antichemotactic activities.

Eight of the ten species tested demonstrated activity in one or more of the bioassays. Organic extracts

of Polymastia janeirensis Boury-Esnauls, 1973, Haliclona aff tubifera George and Wilson, 1919,

Mycale arcuiris Lerner and Hajdu, 2002 and Raspailia (syringella) sp. each demonstrated

cytotoxicity at 100 Ag/ml in an in vitro screening assay against the HT29 colorectal tumour cell line.

Further analysis against three human tumour cell lines (HT29, U373 and NCI-H460) demonstrated

IC50 concentrations ranging from 25 to 50 Ag/ml. Aqueous extracts of six species P. janeirensis, M.

arcuiris, Raspailia (syringella) sp., Guitarra sp., Tedania ignis Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864

and Pseudaxinella reticulata Ridley and Dendy, 1886 each significantly ( pV 0.05) retarded the

migration of polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes in a chemotactic assay. In antibacterial assays,

0022-0981/02/$ - see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

PII: S0022 -0981 (02 )00380 -5

* Corresponding author. Current address: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Smith Building–Rm 936A, 44

Binney Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Tel.: +1-617-632-4172; fax: +1-617-632-4680.

E-mail address: [email protected] (N.R. Monks).

www.elsevier.com/locate/jembe

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology

281 (2002) 1–12

only H. aff tubifera (four of five bacterial strains) and Axinella corrugata George and Wilson, 1919

(one of five bacterial strains) demonstrated activity. None of the 10 species demonstrated measurable

antifungal activity. These extracts are currently undergoing further analysis to identify the active

constituents.

D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Polymastia janeirensis; Haliclona aff tubifera; Mycale arcuiris; Raspailia (syringella) sp.

1. Introduction

Without doubt, natural products have been, and still are, the cornerstone of the health

care armamentarium. Indeed, at the last estimate, 80% of the world’s population still rely on

traditional medicines for their health care needs (Farnsworth et al., 1985). Considering

prescription medicines alone, microbial and plant-derived drugs account for greater than

30% of the worldwide sales (Grabley and Thiericke, 1999). Some of the most notable

include the analgesics aspirin (Filipendula ulmaria) and morphine and codeine (Papaver

somniferum), the malaria prophylaxis, quinine (Cinchona pubescens) and the cardiotonic

drugs, digoxin and digitoxin (Digitalis purpurea) (reviewed in Cox, 1994; da Rocha et al.,

2001).

The popularity of drug discovery programs based on nature are associated to a number of

factors. Firstly, the diversity and complexity of the chemical structures go far beyond those,

which can be synthesized in a laboratory. Secondly, the molecules isolated from nature are,

more often than not, small ( < 1000 Da), with existing drug-like properties (Harvey, 1999).

Added to this, as a result of evolutionary pressures, many organisms, both terrestrial and

marine, have developed chemical defense mechanisms, secondary metabolites, which

confer a selective advantage and often have distinct biological activities against enzymes

and receptors which makes them ideal candidates for pharmacological investigation

(Faulkner, 2000b).

In the search for new pharmaceuticals, a number of approaches are used by natural

product researchers in the selection of candidate species. These include (a) Ethnomedical

information, which refers to species used in popular medicine to treat ailments; (b)

Chemotaxonomy, which involves selection of species due to promising biological activity

or the presence of a particular class of molecule(s) with the desired activity, in congeneric

species and (c) Random collection (Farnsworth, 1994). Generally speaking, there is little or

no ethnobotanical information regarding the use of marine species for medical ailments,

therefore the screening of marine organisms generally fall into the latter category, although

once an interesting species/compound is discovered, chemotaxonomy can be used to select

related species.

Covering around 70% of the planet surface, the oceans possess a huge potential for the

new discovery often on novel molecules (Cragg et al., 1997). Compounds isolated from

marine sources are often highly complex structures, which are frequently difficult to

synthesize, which can often lead to problems in the supply of sufficient quantities of

material for preclinical and clinical development. These compounds are usually a part of

N.R. Monks et al. / J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 281 (2002) 1–122

highly toxic defense mechanisms, which is a reflection of the highly competitive and solute

environment in which the organism resides (Grabley and Thiericke, 1999). The most

interesting phyla with respect to pharmacologically active marine compounds include

bacteria, fungi, algae, sponges, soft corals and gorgonians, sea hares and nudibranchs,

bryozoans and tunicates (Faulkner, 2000b). At present, there are a number of compounds

from marine origin which are under investigation and/or are being developed as new

pharmaceuticals (Faulkner, 2000a,b; da Rocha et al., 2001; Schwartsmann et al., 2001).

Examples include: Cytarabine (Cryptothethya crypta), Halichondrin B (Halichondria

okadai), Bryostatin 1 (Bugula neritina), Dolastatin 10 (Dolabella auricularia) and

Ecteinascidin 743 (Ecteinascidia turbinata), which are all under evaluation as new

anticancer therapies although none, as yet, are commercially available. A number of

compounds have been identified with anti-inflammatory activity, including Manoalide

(Luffariella variabilis), which is commerically available, Pseudopterosins (Pseudoptero-

gorgia elisabethae), Topsentins (Topsentia genitrix, Spongosorites sp. and Hexadella sp.),

Scytonemin (Cyanobacteria) and Debromohymenialdisine (DBH) (Phakellia flabellata,

Hymeniacidon aldis and Stylotella aurantia). Aurantosides (Siliquariaspongia japonica

and Homophymia conferta) and Spongistatin 1 (Hyrtios erecta) are commerically available

antifungal agents which were also discovered from marine sponges.

In this report, we describe the screening of marines sponge extracts collected from the

coastline of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, for antitumour, antichemotactic, antibacterial

and antifungal activity. This study is part of a collaborative program between a number of

Brazilian institutions (Fundac�ao Zoobotanica Rio Grande do Sul, Faculdade de Farmacia-

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul and the South American Office for Anticancer

Drug Development (SOAD)) for the collection and screening of Brazilian marine sponges

for a variety of biological activities, with the aim of identifying new sponges species and

novel molecules with interesting and potentially useful therapeutic activities.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Sponge sampling and identification

Sponges samples were collected manually from exposed and semi-exposed habitats, at

depths of between 0.5 and 14 m, from locations on the coastline of Santa Catarina

(southern Brazil). Taxonomic designation was based on scanning electron microscope

studies and on skeletal slides and dissociated spicule mounts. Specimens of all materials

are deposited in the Museu de Ciencias Naturais–Porifera (MCNPOR) collection of the

Fundac�ao Zoobotanica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The species investigated in this studyare detailed in Table 1.

2.2. Extract preparation

Aqueous extracts were produced by the following procedure. Sponge materials were

ground together with sand and water three times for 30 min. The resulting extract (collected

after each 30 min) was subsequently filtered and freeze-dried. The remaining material was

N.R. Monks et al. / J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 281 (2002) 1–12 3

sequentially extracted five times with a methanol/toluene mixture (3:1, v/v) by maceration

over 5 days. The resulting extract solution was then filtered and concentrated in a

Rotavapor. For the chemotatic, antibacterial and antifungal assays, both the aqueous and

organic extracts were suspended in Hanks buffer and Tween 80 (9:1, v/v) at a concentration

of 100 Ag/ml (w/v). The preparation of the extracts for the in vitro antitumour assays is

described in Section 2.4.

2.3. Cell culture maintenance

The HT29 human colon adenocarcinoma (ATCC No. HTB-38), NCI-H460 human

large cell lung carcinoma (ATCC No. HTB-177) and U373 human glioblastoma astrocy-

toma (ECACC No. 89081403) cell lines were maintained as exponentially growing

cultures in RPMI 1640 culture medium, supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum,

pH 7.4. All cell lines were cultured at 37 jC in an atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air (100%

humidity).

2.4. Cytotoxic screening assay

As part of our general anticancer screening programme, all extracts were initially tested

at a concentration of 100 Ag/ml against HT29 cells to eliminate extracts which did not

demonstrate cytotoxic activity. HT29 cells were seeded into 96-well cell culture plates and

incubated overnight to allow adherence. The extracts were dissolved in 100% DMSO and

added to the wells in triplicate at a final concentration of 100 Ag/ml (final DMSO

concentration 0.25% (v/v) at which no growth inhibitory effects were observed). Both

culture medium alone and culture medium plus vehicle (0.25% DMSO) controls were

used. Following addition of the extracts, plates were incubated for 72 h, after which

cellular growth was determined using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) colourimetric protein

assay (Skehan et al., 1990). Extracts which produced an SRB absorbance lower than that

of the time-zero value (approximately 10% of the control growth), generated by cellular

fixation, using 50% TCA, immediately prior to the addition of the extracts, were

considered to be cytotoxic and submitted for further investigation.

Table 1

Sponge species examined in this study

Species Family Authors Extracts testeda

Guitarra sp. Guitarridae O+A

P. citrina Halichondriidae Muricy et al., 2001 O+A

T. ignis Tedaniidae Duchassaing and Michelotti, 1864 O+A

P. reticulata Axinellidae Ridley and Dendy, 1886 O+A

P. janeirensis Polymastiidae Boury-Esnauls, 1973 O+A

A. corrugata Axinellidae George and Wilson, 1919 O+A

H. aff tubifera Chalinidae George and Wilson, 1919 O+A

Guitarra sp. Guitarridae O+A

M. arcuiris Mycalidae Lerner and Hajdu, 2002 O+A

Raspailia (Syringella) sp. Raspailiidae O+A

a O—Organic extract, A—Aqueous extract.


2.5. Growth inhibition assay

The IC50 (concentration at which cellular growth is inhibited by 50%) was determined

against HT29, NCI-H460 and U373 cells (3.5, 1 and 2.5� 103 cells/well, respectively)

using the methods described above (Section 2.4). Cells were treated in triplicate with a

log10 concentration range (0.1, 1, 10 and 100 Ag/ml) of each extract for 72 h. The IC50

values were estimated from a semi-log plot of extract concentration against SRB

absorbance as a percentage of vehicle control growth (0.25% DMSO).

2.6. Antichemotactic assay

Chemotaxis was measured by the method described previously by Zigmond and Hirsch

(1973). Prior to the chemotactic assay, rat leukocytes were treated with 100 Ag/ml of

sponge suspension at 37 jC for 1 h. Plasma collected from rats was incubated at 37 jC for

30 min with 65 Ag/ml of lipopolysaccharide (from Escherichia coli), following which the

plasma was diluted in Hanks buffer 1:5 (v/v). Chemotaxic migration of leukocytes through

an 8.0-Am nitrocellulose filter, towards the chemotactic stimulant (lipopolysaccharide-

treated plasma), was measured after incubation for 1 h at 37 jC using the micrometer on

the fine-focus knob of the microscope. The distance from the top of the filter to the farthest

plane of focus still containing two cells, in five microscopic fields, allowed the evaluation

of leukocyte migration. The assay was carried out in duplicate.

2.7. Antibacterial assay

Antibacterial activity was determined against cultures of E. coli (ATCC 25922),

Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 6538P), Staphylococcus epidermidis (ATCC 12228),

Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6633) and Micrococcus luteus (ATCC 9341) using the agar-

diffusion assay method (Limberger et al., 2001). Ten plates were tested against each sponge

sample at 2.5 mg/ml (five per aqueous extract and five per organic extract). Chloramphe-

nicol (400 Ag/ml) was used as a positive control. Following incubation at 37 jC for 24 h, the

diameters (mm) of the growth inhibition halos were determined using a pachymeter.

2.8. Antifungal assay

Cultures of Candida albicans (ATCC 10231) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ATCC

1600) were treated with sponge extracts (2.5 mg/ml) as previously described in the

antibacterial assay (see Section 2.7). Nistatin was used as a positive control at a

concentration of 3 mg/ml. Following incubation at 25 jC for 18 h, the diameters (mm)

of the growth inhibition halos were measured using a pachymeter.

3. Results and discussion

Table 2 shows the results of the in vitro testing of sponge extracts against the HT29

colorectal tumour cell line. This is the first step in our anticancer drug development


programme and is designed to identify those extracts with cytotoxic activity. Four sponge

species (organic extracts) were found to be cytotoxic at 100 Ag/ml, namely, Polymastia

janeirensis, Haliclona aff tubifera, Mycale arcuiris and Raspailia (syringella) sp. These

four active extracts were further tested against three human tumour cell lines, derived from

different tumour types, over a concentration range (0.1–100 Ag/ml) to determine their

potency (IC50–50% inhibition of cell growth), the results of these tests are shown in Table

3. The four extracts displayed similar levels of activity across the panel of three cell lines,

the IC50 values ranged from 25 to 50 Ag/ml. These extracts are currently undergoing

further investigation through collaboration with the Natural Products Branch of the

American National Cancer Institute (NCI). Using a 60-cell line panel derived from a

range of different tumour types, the NCI can help identify extracts with interesting

activities by the pattern and degree of activity across their human tumour cell line panel.

To date, a number of growth inhibitory, cytotoxic and other pharmacologically active

molecules have been isolated from species of Porifera related to those tested in this study;

these include alkaloids, macrolides and peptides and are summarized in Table 4.

Table 2

In vitro screening of sponge extracts (100 Ag/ml) against the HT29 human colorectal tumour cell line

Species Cell growtha (% of control growth)

Organic Aqueous

Guitarra sp. 92b 89F 13

P. citrina 68F 19 97F 3

T. ignis 44F 9 90F 10

P. reticulata 91F 8 94F 4c

P. janeirensis 0.4F 0.3* 65F 17

A. corrugata na 94F 2

H. aff tubifera 1F1* 37F 5

Guitarra sp. 44F 5 103F 3

M. arcuiris 2F 1* 63F 17

Raspailia (Syringella) sp. 1F1* 104F 6

a Values were determined using the SRB protein assay after 72 h continuous exposure to the extracts. All

values given are the meanF S.D. of z 3 separate experiments, unless otherwise stated. na =Not tested.b n= one experiment.c n= two experiments.

*Extracts with cytotoxic activity at 100 Ag/ml (i.e. those extracts whose growth is less than the time-zero

control = 10% of control growth).

Table 3

In vitro growth inhibitory activity of sponge extracts against human tumour cell lines

Species Extract type IC50 (Ag/ml)a

HT29 U373 NCI-H460

H. aff tubifera Organic 28F 4 31F 3 30F 1

P. janeirensis Organic 42F 7 33F 3 28F 5

M. arcuiris Organic 31F1 50F 17 27F 1

Raspailia (Syringella) sp. Organic 27F 6 32F 2 25F 0

a IC50 values were determined using the SRB protein assay after 72 h continuous exposure to the extracts. All

values given are the meanF S.D. of z 3 separate experiments.


The inflammatory reaction consists of three fundamental processes: (1) hemodynamic

changes, (2) alterations in vessel permeability and (3) accumulation of inflammatory cells.

The directed migration of inflammatory cells along a chemical gradient is termed che-

Table 4

Literature reports of cellular activity

Species Compounds Chemical class Pharmacological

activity

Reference

Axinella sp. Halichondrin B,

Homohalichondrin B

Macrocyclic

lactones

Growth inhibitory Pettit et al., 1994a

Axinastatins Cycloheptapeptides Growth inhibitory Pettit et al., 1994a,b

Hymenistatin Cyclo-octapeptide Growth inhibitory Pettit et al., 1994b

A. carteri Hymenialdisines Alkaloids Cytotoxicity Supriyono et al., 1995

Halistatin 2 Macrocyclic

lactones

Binds tubulin Luduena et al., 1995

A. weltneri Sodwanones Triterpenes Cytotoxicity Rudi et al., 1997, 1999

Haliclona sp. Haliclonacyclamines Alkaloids Cytotoxicity Charan et al., 1996;

Clark et al., 1998

Adociasulfates Meroterpenoid Inhibits Kinesin Blackburn and Faulkner,

2000; Blackburn

et al., 1999

Haliclamide Cyclic depsipeptide Cytotoxicity Randazzo et al., 2001

Salicylihalamides Macrolides Cytotoxicity Erickson et al., 1997

Manzamines Alkaloids Cytotoxicity Shen et al., 1996

Keramaphidin B Alkaloid Cytotoxicity Shen et al., 1996

Haliclamines Alkaloids Cytotoxicity Fusetani et al., 1989

H. viridis HvTX toxin Nerve potassium

permeability

Sevcik et al., 1994

Halitoxin Alkylpyridine In vivo antitumour Baslow and

Turapaty, 1969

H. negra Haligramides Hexapeptides Cytotoxicity Rashid et al., 2000

H. exigua Araguspongin C,

Xestospongin D

Inhibitor of nitric

oxide synthetase

Venkateswara Rao

et al., 1998

H. tulearensis Halitulin Alkaloid Cytotoxicity Kashman et al., 1999

H. osiris Osirisynes Oygenated

polyacetylenes

Cytotoxicity,

inhibitors

of Na+/K+-ATPase.

Shin et al., 1998

Mycale sp. Mycalamides Mycalamides Cytotoxicity Ogawara et al., 1991;

Perry et al., 1988, 1990;

West et al., 2000b

Pateamine Macrolide Cytotoxicity,

Immunosupressant

Hood et al., 2001;

Remuinan and

Pattenden, 2000

Peloruside A Macrolide Cytotoxicity West et al., 2000a

Thiomycalolides Macrolides Cytotoxicity Matsunaga et al., 1998a

Onnamide Cytotoxicity Burres and Clement, 1989

Mycalisines

A and B

Nucleosides Inhibitors of

cell division

Kato et al., 1985

M. magellanica Mycalolides Macrolides Cytotoxicity Matsunaga et al., 1998b

M. micracanthoxea Mycalazols Pyrroles Cytotoxicity Ortega et al., 1997

Raspailia sp. Asmarines Terpenoids Cytotoxicity Yosief et al., 2000, 1998


motaxis. The activation of this process appears to be an important mechanism by which

the immune effector cells are located at sites of inflammation. Based on this, extracts from

marine sponges were analyzed for their activity on polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes

chemotaxis. Six species, P. janeirensis, M. arcuiris, Raspailia (syringella) sp., Guitarra

sp., Tedania ignis and Pseudaxinella reticulata all significantly ( pV 0.05) reduced the

migration of the leukocytes through a nitrocellulose filter towards the chemotatic

stimulant (Table 5). Interestingly, the antichemotactic activity was seen solely in the

aqueous extracts, whereas extracts which demonstrated in vitro cytotoxicity were all from

the organic phase.

Two of the sponge species tested demonstrated antibacterial activity (Table 6). The

aqueous extract from Axinella corrugata showed weak activity (7–11 mm halo) againstM.

luteus. The organic extract from H. aff tubifera demonstrated activity against each of the

bacteria tested (weak, 7–11 mm), with the exception of B. subtilis, the strongest activity

(moderate, 11–16 mm halo) was seen against E. coli. The aqueous extract from H. aff

tubifera showed weak activity againstM. luteus. A number of antimicrobial molecules have

already been isolated from related sponge species, these are outlined in Table 7.

None of the species tested demonstrated activity in antifungal tests against the species C.

albicans and S. cerevisiae (Nistatin—C. albicans and S. cerevisiae, 7–11 and 11–16 mm

halos, respectively).

Table 5

Antichemotatic activity of marine sponge extracts

Sponge species Extracta PMN migrationb(Am)

Control 123.0F 0.1

Guitarra sp. O 122.7F 2.1

A 40.0F 0.1*

P. citrina O 121.0F 1.1

A 121.2F 2.0

T. ignis O 122.3F 1.5

A 18.9F 0.0*

P. reticulata O 121.3F 1.1

A 25.3F 0.0*

P. janeirensis O 122.3F 1.5

A 19.0F 0.02*

A. corrugata O C

A Cy

H. aff tubifera O C

A 122.17F 2.19

Guitarra sp. O Cy

A 119.0F 3.0

M. arcuiris O 122.67F 1.3

A 13.0F 0.02*

Raspailia (syringella) sp. O Cy

A 35.33F 1.03*

All values given are the meanF S.D. of 10 separate experiments.a A—Aqueous extract, O—Organic extract.b C—Cellular wall damage, Cy—Cytotoxic.

*Statistically significant—p< 0.05 (Student’s t-test).


Over the past decade, interest in marine natural products has dramatically increased, and

consequently, a number of novel molecules have, or are being, developed as pharmaceut-

icals, e.g. Cytarabine, Ecteinascidin 743, Manoalide and Spongistatin 1 to name only a few.

Table 6

Antibacterial activity of the Brazilian marine sponges

Species Extract E. coli S. aureus S. epidermidis B. subtilis M. luteus

Chloroamphenicol *** ** *** ** ***

Guitarra sp. O – – – – –

A – – – – –

P. citrina O – – – – –

A – – – – –

T. ignis O – – – – –

A – – – – –

P. reticulata O – – – – –

A – – – – –

P. janeirensis O – – – – –

A – – – – –

A. corrugata O – – – – –

A – – – – *

H. aff tubifera O ** * * – *

A – – – – *

Guitarra sp. O – – – – –

A – – – – –

M. arcuiris O – – – – –

A – – – – –

Raspailia (Syringella) sp. O – – – – –

A – – – – –

(– ) No activity, (*) weak activity (7–11 mm halo), (**)moderate activity (11–16 mm halo), (***) high activity

(>16 mm halo).

Table 7

Literature reports of antimicrobial activity

Species Compounds Chemical

class

Pharmacological

activity

Reference

Axinella sp. Axinellamines Alkaloids Antibacterial Urban et al., 1999

A. polycapella Hydroxyhydroquinone,

2,2V,4,4V,5,5V-Hexahydro-biphenylAntimicrobial Wratten and Meinwald,

1981

Haliclona sp. Crude extract Antifungal Bhosale et al., 1999

Haliclonacyclamines Alkaloids Antibacterial,

Antifungal.

Charan et al., 1996

Haliclotriol Terpene-

ketides

Antibacterial Crews and Harrison,

2000

Haliclonadiamine Alkaloid Antimicrobial Fahy et al., 1988

Papuamine Alkaloid Antifungal Baker et al., 1988

H. osiris Osirisynes Oygenated

polyacetylenes

Inhibitors of

reverse

transcriptase

Shin et al., 1998

Mycale sp. Mycalamides Mycalamides Antiviral Perry et al., 1988,

1990


Often present as defense mechanisms, these potent marine compounds provide pharma-

ceutical researchers with a novel platform for the development of new drugs to treat serious

diseases such as cancer, bacterial infection and arthritis. Here, we have shown that a number

of sponge species have activity in in vitro models systems, which are directly relevant to

human disease. Studies of this nature highlight the potential of marine product screening

programmes through which, without question, will identify new drugs from the vast,

untapped, resources that are within our oceans.

4. Conclusions

Sponges species collected from the State of Santa Catarina in southern Brazil have been

shown to posses a number of biological activities. The most interesting species are H. aff

tubifera, P. janeirensis, M. arcuiris and Raspailia (syringella) sp.—antineoplastic; P.

janeirensis, M. arcuiris, Raspailia (syringella) sp., Guitarra sp., T. ignis and P. reticu-

lata—antichemotactic and A. corrugata and H. aff tubifera—antibacterial. To the best of

our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating antineoplastic, antichemotactic and

antibacterial activity of these species of porifera. These species are currently undergoing

detailed investigations with the objective of isolating and identifying the molecular species

responsible for the activities demonstrated in this report. Furthermore, the encouraging

biological activities seen in this study show that the Brazilian coastline is a potential

source of sponge species worthy of further investigation. In light of the work presented

here, we have initiated further collection programs off the coastlines of Sao Paulo

(southeast) and Pernambuco (northeast).

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from FAPERGS, CNPq, CAPES and the SOAD

foundation. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Miriam Anders Apel for her technical

assistance with this work. [SS]

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Anticancer, Anti Chemo Tactic and Antimicrobial Activities of Marine Sponges