Developments in marine natural products. Receptor-specific bioactive compounds.

The discovery of thousands of new marine natural products over the past two decades has been spurred by findings of potent bioactivity. In recent years it has become apparent that many such compounds have affinities for certain cellular receptors in the mammalian cell, functional properties that may also play a part in the largely unknown roles of these compounds in their respective parent organisms. Our work in marine natural products has led to the discovery of compounds with significant activity in several assays with importance in understanding fundamental cellular processes and treatment of human disease states. We present recent work on the isolation of new bioactive compounds from marine invertebrates with profound activity on mammalian and non-mammalian receptors.