Marine Sponge Derived Antiangiogenic Compounds

Abstract

Angiogenesis plays an essential role in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis. Inhibition of angiogenesis has become a major challenge in the development of new anticancer agents, with a countless number of antiangiogenic strategies being tested in preclinical and clinical trials. Nowadays the clinical development of antiangiogenic therapies seems to be unstoppable, not only for cancer, but also for an increasing number of non-neoplasic angiogenesis-related diseases. Although most of the natural compounds previously described as inhibitors of angiogenesis have been isolated from plants and terrestrial microorganisms, increasing attention is being paid to the development of marine-derived antiangiogenic agents. Marine organisms produce interesting and singular pharmacological lead compounds, derived from the large diversity of marine habitats and environmental conditions. Among the many different types of marine organisms used as a source for drug discovery, sponges represent one of the most promising sources of leads in the research of new cancer drugs. There are different strategies for angiogenesis intervention, based on the modulation of any of the different steps of the angiogenic process. In this chapter, we will provide an overview of the angiogenesis inhibitors isolated from marine sponges based on the available information regarding their primary targets or mechanism of action.