Advancing marine natural products towards sustainable production

Marine natural products offer a rich source of biologically active molecules, but their complex structures and limited natural availability can present major obstacles to further development.

AIMARIA focuses on two established, high-value compounds while exploring new chemical diversity from marine microorganisms.

Peloruside A

Peloruside A is a microtubule-stabilising natural product originally isolated from the marine sponge Mycale hentscheli.

It interacts with tubulin at a site distinct from that targeted by taxanes and has demonstrated potent anticancer activity in preclinical studies.

AIMARIA aims to reconstruct and optimise its biosynthetic pathway in engineered microbial hosts, establishing an alternative to supply through sponge harvesting.

Pateamine A

Pateamine A is a marine-derived natural product that inhibits translation initiation through interaction with the eukaryotic initiation factor eIF4A.

Its biological activity has attracted interest in anticancer research, but sustainable access to the compound remains challenging.

AIMARIA will investigate heterologous production of Pateamine A, with the possibility of advancing an alternative high-value target if required.

Discovery of novel bioactives

Alongside these established candidates, AIMARIA will investigate previously uncharacterised marine biosynthetic pathways, particularly those encoding:

• Ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs).

• Polyketides and other structurally complex natural products.

• Novel indolocarbazole derivatives.

• Enzymes with potentially valuable catalytic functions.

Selected compounds will undergo structural characterisation and biological activity screening, particularly for antimicrobial and anticancer applications.

The aim is to expand access to valuable marine chemistry while establishing biological production routes suitable for further research and development.