MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. Researchers from Far Eastern Federal University and Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences have extracted 17 new biologically active substances from microscopic fungus found on the surface of seagrass, the Far Eastern Federal University’s press office stated.

The new substances may help boost the development of anti-cancer and anti-tumor pharmaceuticals.

"The medical industry needs new drugs with anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory action. In our study, we deal namely with the search for such substances. Through experiments on mice, we explored the properties of 17 new biologically active metabolites and found out that some of them can mitigate the inflammation process. Additionally, the breakthrough showed that the substances are capable of increasing the sensitivity of cancer cells to therapeutic treatment," said Elena Leshchenko, research assistant at the Laboratory of Biologically Active Substances at the Bioorganic Chemistry and Biotechnology Faculty from FEFU’s School of Natural Sciences.

During the next stage, the researchers are planning to study the substances’ biological activity using various models and to explore their systems of functions and toxicity. Further tests including those with laboratory animals will determine the perspectives for these substances in the pharmaceuticals industry.

The study’s results have been published in the journal Chemistry of Natural Compounds, Marine Drugs, and Phytochemistry Letters.