Editing Sponge (section)

==== Medicinal compounds ====

{{further|Sponge isolates}}

[[File:Halichondria and Eribulin.jpg|thumb|upright|''Halichondria'' produces the [[eribulin]] precursor [[halichondrin B]] ]]

Sponges have [[medicine|medicinal]] potential due to the presence in sponges themselves or their microbial [[symbiosis|symbionts]] of chemicals that may be used to control [[virus]]es, [[bacteria]], [[tumor]]s and fungi.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Imhoff |first1=J.F. |last2=Stöhr |first2=R. |chapter=Sponge-Associated Bacteria |pages=43–44 |editor= Müller, W.E. |title=Sponges (Porifera): Porifera |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-3-540-00968-9 }}</ref><ref name="pmid8297426">{{cite journal |last1=Teeyapant |first1=R. |last2=Woerdenbag |first2=H. J. |last3=Kreis |first3=P. |last4=Hacker |first4=J. |last5=Wray |first5=V. |last6=Witte |first6=L. |last7=Proksch |first7=P. |title=Antibiotic and cytotoxic activity of brominated compounds from the marine sponge Verongia aerophoba |journal=Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C |volume=48 |issue=11–12 |pages=939–45 |date=1993 |pmid=8297426 |doi=10.1515/znc-1993-11-1218 |s2cid=1593418 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Lacking any protective shell or means of escape, sponges have evolved to synthesize a variety of unusual compounds. One such class is the oxidized fatty acid derivatives called [[oxylipin]]s. Members of this family have been found to have anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. One example isolated from the Okinawan ''Plakortis'' sponges, [[plakoridine A]], has shown potential as a cytotoxin to murine lymphoma cells.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Takeuchi |first1=Shinji |last2=Ishibashi |first2=Masami |last3=Kobayashi |first3=Junichi |title=Plakoridine A, a new tyramine-containing pyrrolidine alkaloid from the ''Okinawan marine'' sponge Plakortis sp |journal=Journal of Organic Chemistry |year=1994 |volume=59 |issue=13 |pages=3712–3713 |doi=10.1021/jo00092a039 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Etchells |first1=Laura L. |last2=Sardarian |first2=Ali |last3=Whitehead |first3=Roger C. |title=A synthetic approach to the plakoridines modeled on a biogenetic theory |journal=[[Tetrahedron Letters]] |date=18 April 2005 |volume=46 |issue=16 |pages=2803–2807 |doi=10.1016/j.tetlet.2005.02.124 }}</ref>