EVANSTON, Ill., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A team of U.S. chemists has synthesized a compound derived from a deep-sea sponge that is extremely effective at inhibiting the growth of cancer cells.
The compound, called neopeltolide, was synthesized by Northwestern University Professor Karl Scheidt, graduate student Daniel Custar and postdoctoral fellow Thomas Zabawa. They said the ability to synthesize neopeltolide is expected to lead to more effective anti-cancer drugs.
To construct the compound, Scheidt, Custar and Zabawa used a system of convergent synthesis, in which components of the compound were separately synthesized and later assembled.
"Our approach brings three equal fragments together to form the whole, which is better than building in a linear sequence," said Scheidt. "We pushed the envelope of what can be done with organic chemistry to do it."
The researchers said neopeltolide stops cell division in a manner unlike that of commonly utilized chemotherapies.
"We know there is something different going on with this new molecule, and we want to start figuring out if this behavior is the beginning of a new way to treat cancer," said Scheidt.
The study appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
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