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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Oregon State University researchers have received a five-year, $3.7 million grant to coordinate a multi-faceted marine and terrestrial natural products study program in Panama, which already has revealed enormous promise with the discovery of an algae that causes neuritogenesis - or nerve regeneration - activity.

The program also has identified a terrestrial plant growing in Panama with activity against trypanosomes, such as those causing Chagas disease.

The work expands the research of William Gerwick, an OSU professor of pharmaceutical sciences, who has become a world leader in the investigation of marine organisms for their anti-cancer, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties.

"It is an exciting find, but it is very, very preliminary," Gerwick cautioned. "We were collecting specimens in early June and one of the compounds we extracted in our bio-screening showed neuron regeneration activity that was very strong - it was as active as some of our positive controls."

Gerwick and his colleagues - including Kerry McPhail, an assistant research professor, and graduate student Luke Simmons - extracted the compound from a blue-green alga, Lyngbya, and tested it on cancer cells derived from neurons. They then looked for the cancer cells to start changing back to the appearance of "normal" neurons, which often exhibit a dendritic, or root-like, growth on the ends.

"This could potentially be useful in repairing neurons damaged from injury - either spinal cord or other damaged nerves," he said.

The emerging study of marine organisms for their therapeutic properties is one of the most intriguing fields in medical science today. Gerwick's focus on blue-green algae already has produced exciting finds, including a marine cyanobacterium that is a rich source of antibiotic and cytotoxic peptides, and another one that produces the compound Curacin A, which has strong anti-cancer potential.

These algae all grow in tropical waters, known for their rich biodiversity. Gerwick says the competition for space and sunlight, and the need to defend against predation, have resulted in multiple survival strategies for marine organisms. In some, he says, high growth rate ensures survival.

In others, however, molecules have developed the ability to fight off potential predators.

"In the most straightforward cases, the toxins to protect an alga against fish may also be toxic to cancer cells," Gerwick said. "But there are other, much more subtle variations. Some may provide a non-toxic cancer therapy, which is to say they somehow make cancerous cells turn non-cancerous instead of killing them."

Panama is the latest biological diversity hotspot for marine organisms - a list that includes Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, The Philippines, and the coast of Peru and Ecuador. Panama is particularly intriguing, Gerwick says, because it lies east-west and acts as a corridor for migrating species between North America and South America. Prevailing winds from the Caribbean cause rich upwelling in the Pacific Ocean, contributing to the rich habitat.

Since Gerwick began focusing on marine products, his research capacity has grown tremendously. He now receives about $750,000 annually through several different grants from the National Institutes of Health, and those funds support another faculty member, three post-docs, 10 graduate students, several undergraduate students and technical support staff.

His research also has evolved. In the beginning, Gerwick and his team would try to isolate bioactive compounds from an alga and determine their molecular structure. They then tested them for different properties - such as attacking cancer cells, or reducing inflammation.

In recent years, Gerwick has begun delving into the genetic structure and function of these algae. As they isolate the portions of an alga's DNA, they categorize it and put it in a "library."

"The goal is to find that snippet of DNA that makes the biologically active compound of interest," Gerwick said. "We're fortunate in that the genes for making these compounds in blue-green algae are usually tightly clustered together and include only about 50,000 DNA base pairs."

The OSU researchers hope to eventually begin initiating their own genome studies of algae to gain a more complete record.

Gerwick said the arrival on campus of colleague James Carrington, who directs the OSU Center for Gene Research and Biotechnology, has elevated genetic research on the campus to the next level.

"In the last four years, we have been able to discover and characterize the genetic sequence of six compounds from blue-green algae that have biomedicinal properties and for which we already had discovered their physical structure," he said.