Lamellarins: A Tribe of Bioactive Marine Natural Products

Abstract

The first lamellarins were isolated from a small oceanic sea snail in 1985. Today, more than 70 lamellarins have been identified, and numerous derivatives synthesized and tested as antiviral or anticancer agents. The lead compound in the family is lamellarin D, characterized as a potent inhibitor of nuclear topoisomerase I, but also capable of directly interfering with mitochondria to trigger cancer cell death. In this chapter the biology and chemistry of lamellarins are discussed. Lamellarins can serve as a starting point for the design of anticancer or antiviral compounds. Extensive efforts have been devoted to the creation of novel structures, and to improve synthetic methods leading to lamellarins and related pyrrole-derived marine alkaloids.