NATURALLY OCCURRING ANTICANCER COMPOUNDS

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The long term objective of this project is to develop new agents for cancer chemotherapy from natural sources. To attain this goal, cytotoxicity or antitumor/antineoplastic activity will be pinpointed in terrestrial plants and marine fauna and flora; the compounds eliciting the observed activity will then be isolated, identified and submitted for full pharmacological evaluation. Screening and bioassay work will follow NCI protocols and will be provided by the National Cancer Institute and the Lilly Research Laboratories. In addition, an assay for toxicity to bacteria deficient in DNA repair capacity will be utilized whenever feasible to save time and material. Separation work will be accomplished by application of every available chromatographic technique; modifications and new adaptations in this area have been and will continue to be developed by the principal investigator. Elucidation of structures will be acomplished by utilization of state-of-the-art spectroscopic techniques, particularly NMR, mass spectrometry and X-ray diffraction, supported by more traditional methods, including IR and UV spectroscopy and chemical degradations and transformations. While chemical investigations proceed on those species already targeted by screening, new species will be continuously collected and screened, in order to maintain a constant supply of extracts with potential anticancer activity.