Aplysiatoxin is a

cyanotoxin Cyanotoxins are toxins produced by cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae). Cyanobacteria are found almost everywhere, but particularly in lakes and in the ocean where, under high concentration of phosphorus conditions, they reproduce exp ...

produced by certain

cyanobacteria Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteri ...

species. It is used as a defensive secretion to protect these cyanobacteria from predation by fish, being a potent irritant and

carcinogen A carcinogen () is any agent that promotes the development of cancer. Carcinogens can include synthetic chemicals, naturally occurring substances, physical agents such as ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, and biologic agents such as viruse ...

, by acting as a powerful activator of

protein kinase C In cell biology, protein kinase C, commonly abbreviated to PKC (EC 2.7.11.13), is a family of protein kinase enzymes that are involved in controlling the function of other proteins through the phosphorylation of hydroxyl groups of serine and t ...

. While this action has a tumour-promoting effect, protein kinase C activation can be medically beneficial for some other applications, and synthetic analogues of aplysiatoxin have been researched for anti-cancer effects.Yanagita RC, Kamachi H, Tanaka K, Murakami A, Nakagawa Y, Tokuda H, Nagai H, Irie K. Role of the phenolic hydroxyl group in the biological activities of simplified analogue of aplysiatoxin with antiproliferative activity. ''Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters''. 2010 Oct 15;20(20):6064-6.

References

{{Cyanotoxins Oxygen heterocycles Cyanotoxins Bromobenzene derivatives Lactones Halogen-containing natural products Enzyme activators Phenols

See also

References