Investigation of Indonesian Marine Organisms as Medicinal Resources

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Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 islands distributed along the equator stretched over the two oceans. The Indonesian waters are known to have diverse species of sessile organisms such as sponges and soft corals. However, their regional and biological distribution and biomedical potential are scarcely understood. We, a group of scientists from both Indonesia and Japan, aim to conduct survey, collection, and chemical and pharmaceutical investigation of these organisms. Owing to the deterioration of coastal environment caused by industrial and municipal effluents and also by sedimentation of red clay discharged from land development, existence of sessile marine organisms are endangered in the coasts of Japan. This situation is not confined only to Japan. Similar situation is developing in Indonesia, especially along the coasts of Jakarta and other coastal cities. The problem is serious not only from the viewpoint of environmental conservation.Considering these situations, we started the study of Indonesian marine organisms as sources of lead compounds for new medicines before some of these species disappear from the coastal waters. The present research is carried out as a collaborative project of Pusat Penelitian dan Pengembangan Oseanologi (Research and Development Centre for Oceanology)-LIPI, Lampung University, Diponegoro University, Indonesia and Osaka University and University of the Ryukyus, Japan. We have proceeded survey of marine invertebrates at Lampung in Sumatra Island in 2003, Carita in Java Island in 2004, and Biak Island in 2005 as shown below. 1) Search for diversity and correction of marine invertebrates by SCUBA diving. 2) Isolation of bioactive constituents from those marine invertebrates. We have already isolated several anti-tumor active constituents (cell cycle inhibitor or anti-angiogenesis). 3) Separation of marine microorganism from marine sediment and investigation of bioactive constituents of those marine microorganisms.