PHARMACOLOGY

Pharmaceutical research has lead to amazing discoveries of new drug products, many of which have been found in natural products produced by both animals and plants.  Several chemotherapeutic agents have been discovered in marine organisms and there is currently a mass of ongoing research surrounding marine natural products.  Elysia rufescens is a sea slug discovered in the seas off Hawaii that has been found to produce the depsipeptide (substance in a natural organism that has been found to have chemotherapeutic effects) Kahalalide F.  Kahalalide F has been the focus of many studies for potential chemotherapeutic agents found in marine organisms and has shown promising results in studies on human colon, lung, prostate, and breast cancer cell lines.  This cyclic compound has been found in both the sacoglossan E.rufescens and the blue-green alga it feeds on, Bryopsis pennata.

The sea slug E. chlorotica does not posses a shell and, therefore, must protect itself from predators somehow that does not involve physical barriers.  We believe that an alternative to a physical barrier would be a chemical one.  Sea slugs produce copious amounts of slime which may contain defence chemicals.  We are currently searching for antimicrobial agents within the sea slug E. chlorotica.