Marine biomolecules in anti-cancer therapy: Tbx2 anti-senescence factor as a new pharmacological target

• Grant number: 21/03891-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): April 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Cytology and Cell Biology
• Principal researcher: Glaucia Maria Machado Santelli
• Grantee: Sandro Mascena Gomes Filho
• Home Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 15/17177-6 - Integrative approach on the sustainable prospection of marine natural products: from diversity to anticancer compounds, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The marine environment is a reservoir of bioactive natural products. The wealth of biodiversity in this environment offers a great opportunity for the discovery of new bioactive compounds. In this context, the growing use of bioactive molecules is notably extracted from marine microorganisms. Among the various applications of these biomolecules stand out the use in anticancer therapy, primarily because it is known that cancer is the disease that causes the most deaths worldwide and secondly because it does not yet exist a therapy that satisfactorily attends the different types of the disease. Therefore, the search for new therapeutic targets is necessary, a reason that motivated us to use as potential pharmacological target factor TBX2. This factor is overexpressed in different types of cancer showing important oncogenic potential, in addition to contributing to the maintenance of cell proliferation and escape from senescence. In this context, the project aims to identify new natural molecules, based on Brazilian biodiversity, that have modulation of Tbx2 as an active target, as well as validating this factor as a new target for anticancer therapy. It is worth noting, especially, that this project is essentially multidisciplinary and with great innovation potential, as it is inserted in an area extremely promising approach to sustainable prospecting for sea resources to identify new biotechnological products, as well as legitimizing it from a new anti-cancer molecular target.