Anticancer peptides are short and structurally heterogeneous aminoacidic chains, which display selective cytotoxicity mostly against tumor cells, but not healthy cells, based on their different cell surface properties. Their anti-tumoral activity is carried out through interference with intracellular homeostasis, such as plasmalemma integrity, cell cycle control, enzymatic activities and mitochondrial functions, ultimately acting as angiogenesis-, drug resistance- and metastasis-inhibiting agents, immune stimulators, differentiation inducers and necrosis or extrinsic/intrinsic apoptosis promoters. The marine environment features an ever-growing level of biodiversity, and seas and oceans are poorly exploited mines in terms of natural products of biomedical interest. Adaptation processes to extreme and competitive environmental conditions led marine species to produce unique metabolites as a chemical strategy to allow inter-individual signalization and ensure survival against predators, infectious agents or UV radiation. These natural metabolites have found broad use in various applications in healthcare management, due to their anticancer, anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory and regeneration abilities. The aim of this review is to pick selected studies that report on the isolation of marine animal-derived peptides and the identification of their anticancer activity in in vitro cultures of cancer cells, and list them with respect to the taxonomical hierarchy of the source organism.
抗癌肽是一类结构异质性的短链氨基酸序列，其基于肿瘤细胞与健康细胞表面特性的差异，主要对肿瘤细胞表现出选择性细胞毒性，而对正常细胞无明显影响。这类肽的抗肿瘤活性通过干扰细胞内稳态实现，包括破坏质膜完整性、干扰细胞周期调控、影响酶活性及线粒体功能，最终发挥抑制血管生成、逆转耐药性、阻断转移进程、激活免疫应答、诱导细胞分化以及促进坏死或外源性/内源性凋亡的作用。海洋环境蕴藏着日益丰富的生物多样性，从生物医学价值的角度看，海洋堪称尚未充分开发的天然产物宝库。为适应极端且充满竞争的环境条件，海洋生物通过产生独特代谢产物作为化学策略，实现个体间信号传递并抵御捕食者、病原体或紫外线辐射。这些天然代谢产物因其抗癌、抗血管生成、抗炎及促进组织再生等特性，已在医疗健康管理领域获得广泛应用。本综述旨在筛选并梳理报道海洋动物源肽的分离纯化及其在癌细胞体外培养体系中抗癌活性鉴定的代表性研究，并依据来源生物的分类学层级进行系统性归纳。
Natural Anticancer Peptides from Marine Animal Species: Evidence from In Vitro Cell Model Systems
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家