The structural diversity and promise of antiparasitic marine invertebrate-derived small molecules

This review focuses on six important parasitic diseases that adversely affect the health and lives of over one billion people worldwide. In light of the global human impact of these neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), several initiatives and campaigns have been mounted to eradicate these infections once and for all. Currently available therapeutics summarized herein are either ineffective and/or have severe and deleterious side effects. Resistant strains continue to emerge and there is an overall unmet and urgent need for new antiparasitic drugs. Marine-derived small molecules (MDSMs) from invertebrates comprise an extremely diverse and promising source of compounds from a wide variety of structural classes. New discoveries of marine natural product privileged structures and compound classes that are being made via natural product library screening using whole cell in vitro assays are highlighted. It is striking to note that for the first time in history the entire genomes of all six parasites have been sequenced and additional transcriptome and proteomic analyses are available. Furthermore, open and shared, publicly available databases of the genome sequences, compounds, screening assays, and druggable molecular targets are being used by the worldwide research community. A combined assessment of all of the above factors, especially of current discoveries in marine natural products, implies a brighter future with more effective, affordable, and benign antiparasitic therapeutics.