Well, not necessarily. Though SpongeBob is an iconic fictional character who has brightened the mornings of children for many years, he is not the hero of this story. While scrolling through Instagram and TikTok, I came across posts discussing this hero of ours, and it brought me great joy and optimism for the future in cancer research as my own aunt is a cancer survivor. This hero is a very different sea sponge, one that goes by the name of Fascaplysinopsis reticulata. Recently, scientists at Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) in Russia have tested and experimented on this sponge, which led to the isolation and chemical synthesis of the compound 3,10-dibromofascaplysin.
Image of the sponge, Fascaplysinopsis reticulata, which scientists experimented on at FEFU. Source
Now, you may be wondering: why is this compound so important? Well, I'll tell you! In the experiments conducted by the researchers, they tested the newly synthesized compound on prostate cancer cells, including cells that were resistant to chemotherapy, a widely used form of cancer treatment. They discovered that the compound was able induce a programmed cell death mechanism in these cells, otherwise known as apoptosis, which is the most favorable action for anticancer drugs. Additionally, they found that the 3,10-dibromofascaplysin worked extremely well in combination with other anti-tumor drugs.
Image of chemical synthesized from sponge at FEFU, 3,10-dibromofascaplysin. Source
Awesome, right? Well, mostly. The researchers also discovered that the compound, though it kills the cells, activates an enzyme, specifically a kinase, which protects the tumor cell. You may be asking yourself, is this good or bad? Really, it's neither. This just informs the researchers that the compound should be utilized with inhibitors to the kinase so that it works efficiently.
Additionally, scientists have hopes for the future with 3,10-dibromofascaplysin. As of right now, the compound is highly toxic to healthy cells in the human body, so even though it may be helping with the treatment to cancer, it is doing damage to other cells at the same time, making the compound have limited use as a solution. Scientists are currently working on modifying the structure of the compound in order to lower its toxicity levels while also allowing it to maintain its cancer-battling abilities. This would allow patients to have affective targeted therapy with the newly synthesized compound. With this discovery, there is much to look forward to in the battle to fight cancer.
It's crazy to think that something so important and beneficial to us humans was found in a sea sponge, but this isn't the first time this has happened. Since the 1950s, scientists have studied the sea sponge Tectitethya crypta. They were able to extract two chemicals that were utilized in the first ever anti-leukemia drug and these same chemicals were also utilized in a drug called azidothymidine which was used to treat patients with HIV.
The sponge Tectitethya crypta used to derive chemicals for modern drugs. Source
With our oceans still mostly undiscovered, scientists will continue to search for novel marine chemicals that can assist us with our modern technology in treating or curing current human diseases and illnesses. However, as time goes, the detrimental impact of climate change is growing and growing and it is affecting these marine ecosystems, especially the sea sponges. Warming temperatures of oceans like the Mediterranean and the Caribbean have led to many sponges dying. On top of that, human interference, such as fishing and dredging, has led to the deaths of sponges. Even the effects of pollution has led to the introduction of new bacteria, killing the sponges. Not only are they important to us for scientific purposes, they also are essential bases in their own ecosystems. They serve as a home and also as a source of food for many animals. If they were to be removed from their ecosystems, this would create a domino effect which could lead to decreases in fish population, which is also something that we humans rely on as a source of food.
Sponges play an important role in our marine ecosystems. Source
Clearly, sea sponges play an important role on our planet, whether it be helping us improve our medicinal techniques to save more lives, or just maintaining balance in the various ecosystems across the ocean; they help us in more ways than we could imagine. However, we must now ask ourselves how far will we go to protect this creature that can help determine our future. Maybe later on, they can make us Crabby Patties! ;)
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