THE MARINE ORGANISMS AS A SOURCE OF DRUGS AND NUTRACEUTICAL SUBSTANCES

Marine pharmacology studies molecular entities from marine organisms living in acquatic environments which can be applied to treat or prevent diseases. In this PhD work, the antimelanoma activity of the marine compound Euplotin C (EC) was investigated and a preliminary biochemical screening was carried out on Chaetomorpha linum raw material collected in a Tuscan coastal site in different seasonal stages. EC decrease cell viability and migration of human melanoma cells with some cancer selectivity, producing apoptosis. Moreover, reduce expression of B-Raf, inhibit Erk and Akt phosphorylation, enhanced expression of miRNAs deregulated in melanoma with an effect in ryanodine receptor. All these results suggests this marine molecule might represent a new lead compound for the design of novel potential agents against melanoma. For Chaetomorpha linum, after the extraction step, the DPPH and the Total Phenolic Content experiments were selected as screening tools to evaluate the antioxidant potentiality in the raw extracts and their derivatives. In addition, a specific procedure for the polysaccharide fraction was developed.