Didemnum fragile
| Didemnum fragile | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Tunicata |
| Class: | Ascidiacea |
| Order: | Aplousobranchia |
| Family: | Didemnidae |
| Genus: | Didemnum |
| Species: | D. fragile |
| Binomial name | |
| Didemnum fragile Sluiter, 1909 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Didemnum fragile is a species of sea squirt in the family Didemnidae.
Research
Didemnum fragile is of medical interest as it contains shishijimicin molecules, which have been seen to have potent anti-tumor activity in HeLa cells at picomolar concentrations.[1] Shishijimicin A was recently synthesized.[2]
References
- ^ Oku, N; Matsunaga, S; Fusetani, N (26 February 2003). "Shishijimicins A-C, novel enediyne antitumor antibiotics from the ascidian Didemnum proliferum(1)". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 125 (8): 2044–5. doi:10.1021/ja0296780. PMID 12590521.
- ^ "Rice lab synthesizes cancer-killing compound". Retrieved 2015-07-13.