Red2Discovery – Sphaerococcus coronopifolius and Asparagopsis armata macroalgae as targets for marine drug discovery

Red2Discovery – Sphaerococcus coronopifolius and Asparagopsis armata macroalgae as targets for marine drug discovery

Abstract/Aim
This project aims at extracting, isolating and purifying new molecules with antitumoral and antimicrobial capacity from two marine macroalgae previously identified as potential sources for new compounds with pharmacological application. It is also the objective of the project to characterize the intracellular signaling pathways activated by these molecules in order to perceive their mechanisms of action, important for later validation of their pharmacological potential in different therapeutic targets. This study has so far allowed the isolation of 5 different molecules with promising antimicrobial and antitumoral activities, including a new one never before described.

Keywords
Marine natural compounds; Red algae; Antitumor activity; Antimicrobian activity

Partners
Centre for Neurosciences and Cell Biology – CNBC, University of Coimbra (Portugal); Veterinary Faculty of University of Santiago de Compostela, (Spain)

Coordinator
MARE-Polytechnic of Leiria: Rui Pedrosa – rui.pedrosa@ipleiria.pt

Funding
146.510,00€ (MARE-Polytechnic of Leiria) | POCI – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização/FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia // Duration 2016-2019

Red2discovery Project Card