Squeezing out the medical potential of sponges

Marine organisms from the deep, such as sponges and corals, have huge therapeutic potential, according to NUI Galway researchers Dr Louise Allcock and Professor Mark Johnson.

The team is undertaking a €1.9 million project funded by the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) and the Marine Institute, and aims to extract unique chemical compounds from sea sponges and corals to examine their structure and determine their pharmacological potential.

“Our research involves mathematically modelling to predict which species are most likely to give us useful chemical compounds, and where biodiversity hotspots of these species exist,” Dr Allcock explained.

“It involves extracting chemical compounds from these species, purifying those compounds, testing them for useful properties such as antibacterial activity or anti-cancer properties, and then figuring out the chemical structure of those compounds.”

Researchers globally have shown that chemicals extracted from corals and sponges have anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour, anti-HIV, anti-ulcer and antimicrobial properties, according to Dr Allcock.

“The neat thing is that there are thousands of different species to explore, and each tends to have a compound with a slightly different chemical structure to its nearest relative. These small changes in chemical structure can affect the properties of the compounds, so by searching through as many species as possible, you stand a really good chance of finding something useful,” she said.

The goal is to find new compounds that have really good pharmaceutical properties, and the funding the team has been awarded will go a long way towards helping them achieve that.

This project is one of three NUI Galway research projects that are benefiting from almost €4.4 million in funding from SFI. Two other projects focus on the use of cell therapy for diabetic complications, and more efficient energy production.