ELEUTHEROBIN

Source: The octocorals Eleutherobia sp., Erythropodium caribaeorum (CNIDARIA)
Activity: Tubulin interactive agent
Status: Preclinical

Eleutherobin was first found in extracts made from the octocoral Eleutherobia sp. collected in Australia. The species of Eleutherobia was first described by Scripps Institution of Oceanography's Bill Fenical in 1993. Eleutherobin was extracted from the coral two years later by Fenical's post-doctoral student Thomas Lindel.

The rarity of Eleutherobia sp. greatly impeded development since it was the only known source of the drug. More recently, however, eleutherobin was isolated from the Caribbean encrusting coral Erythropodium caribaeorum by the research group led by Ray Andersen of the University of British Columbia. The compound has also been recovered from aquacultured E. caribaeorum. Currently synthetic production methods are being explored.

The reported bioactivity of this natural product, currently under preclinical investigation, is as a microtubule binding agent similar to the anti-cancer drug taxol. There is hope that eleutherobin will eventually prove similarly effective but with perhaps fewer side effects (e.g., immune system suppression, nausea, hair loss) than taxol.

NCBI PubMed biomedical literature citations and abstracts - [ LINK ]

References

Newman DJ, and GM Cragg. 2004. Advanced Preclinical and Clinical Trials of Natural Products and Related Compounds From Marine Sources. Current Medicinal Chemistry 11:1693-1713.

NSF OISE Discovery articla "Finding Cures from Corals"
http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100679&org=OISE

Eleutherobin project page from Dr. Russ Kerr, Florida Atlantic University
http://www.science.fau.edu/chemistry/kerr_group/Current%20Projects/Eleutherobin.htm