The Marine Cembranoid Sarcophine Suppressed the Progression and Recurrence of the Metastatic Castration-Resistant

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 5, 2026

Sequencing Small Non-coding RNA from Formalin-fixed Tissues and Serum-derived Exosomes from Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Patients
12:13

Sequencing Small Non-coding RNA from Formalin-fixed Tissues and Serum-derived Exosomes from Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Patients

Published on: November 19, 2019

Abdullah T Alhowiriny1, Hassan Y Ebrahim1,2, Ethar A Mudhish1

  • 1School of Basic Pharmaceutical and Toxicological Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Louisiana at Monroe, 1800 Bienville Drive, Monroe, LA 71201, USA.

Marine Drugs
|July 27, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Marine cembranoid sarcophine effectively controlled metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) progression and recurrence in mouse models. This compound suppressed key cancer pathways and demonstrated significant therapeutic potential for mCRPC treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Marine natural products
  • Cancer biology
  • Molecular oncology

Background:

  • Prostate cancer (PCa) is a leading malignancy in men, often developing resistance to castration therapy.
  • Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) presents significant therapeutic challenges, necessitating novel treatment strategies.
  • Metastatic CRPC (mCRPC) is associated with high mortality rates due to disease progression and recurrence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy of the marine cembranoid sarcophine against mCRPC progression and recurrence.
  • To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying sarcophine's anti-cancer activity in mCRPC.
  • To assess sarcophine's potential as a therapeutic agent for mCRPC.

Main Methods:

  • In vivo efficacy assessment using mCRPC mouse xenograft models.
  • Evaluation of tumor volume, progression, and recurrence over defined periods.
  • Analysis of protein and phosphorylation levels via immunoblotting.
  • Assessment of mRNA expression using qPCR and RNA sequencing (Transcriptomics-RNA-Seq).

Main Results:

  • Sarcophine significantly reduced mCRPC tumor volume by 74.1%.
  • Suppressed key oncogenic pathways including epigenetic regulators (EZH2, SMYD2), lineage plasticity factors (ASCL1, BRN2), Wnt/stemness signaling (β-catenin, LGR6), AKT pathway, and invasion markers (TRPC4, MMP2).
  • Effectively prevented locoregional and distant recurrences (lung, spleen) and demonstrated broad transcriptional reprogramming.

Conclusions:

  • Sarcophine demonstrates potent anti-cancer activity against mCRPC.
  • The compound acts by coordinating the suppression of multiple oncogenic pathways.
  • Sarcophine shows significant therapeutic potential for controlling mCRPC progression and recurrence.
Keywords:
AKTASCL1BRN2EZH2marine natural productsmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer progressionrecurrencesarcophineβ-catenin

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