scholarly journals Marine Anthraquinones: Pharmacological and Toxicological Issues

Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 272
Author(s):  
Giulia Greco ◽  
Eleonora Turrini ◽  
Elena Catanzaro ◽  
Carmela Fimognari

The marine ecosystem, populated by a myriad of animals, plants, and microorganisms, is an inexhaustible reservoir of pharmacologically active molecules. Among the multiple secondary metabolites produced by marine sources, there are anthraquinones and their derivatives. Besides being mainly known to be produced by terrestrial species, even marine organisms and the uncountable kingdom of marine microorganisms biosynthesize anthraquinones. Anthraquinones possess many different biological activities, including a remarkable antitumor activity. However, due to their peculiar chemical structures, anthraquinones are often associated with toxicological issues, even relevant, such as genotoxicity and mutagenicity. The aim of this review is to critically describe the anticancer potential of anthraquinones derived from marine sources and their genotoxic and mutagenic potential. Marine-derived anthraquinones show a promising anticancer potential, although clinical studies are missing. Additionally, an in-depth investigation of their toxicological profile is needed before advocating anthraquinones as a therapeutic armamentarium in the oncological area.

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (36) ◽  
pp. 871-883
Author(s):  
Moath Kahtan BASHIR ◽  
Yasser Fakri MUSTAFA ◽  
Mahmood Khudhayer OGLAH

Cancer constitutes one of the most severe public health menaces worldwide. It is imperative to synthesize new compounds and explore their antitumor activity to find a potential resolution to this health problem. Synthesis of new scaffolds and evaluating their antitumor activity is a relevant approach for combating cancer development. Coumarins can exhibit diverse biological activities, and one of these is the antitumor activity. This study aimed to synthesize new coumarins by grafting their precursors to the aromatic amines via Schiff base formation and evaluating their introductory antitumor activity. New multifunctional coumarins (MC1-MC9) were prepared by integrating a functionalized coumarin with different toluidine derivatives via a Schiff-base linkage. Spectral characterization inspired by FTIR, 1H- and 13C- NMR spectroscopies has established the chemical structures of the synthesized products. The antitumor activity was explored in vitro versus four dominant human cancer lines, including HeLa, SKG, MCF-7, and AMN3. The outcomes acquired from the cell viability assay inspected by applying MTT dye have revealed that the synthesized multifunctional coumarins, particularly MC3, have a hopeful activity. It can be concluded that a similar trend of activity against the test cell lines was observed for the synthesized coumarins, with the best action being versus MCF-7 and the least one versus AMN3. This study not only affords a new scaffold of a significant antitumor activity but also provides some insights into its structureactivity relationship.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Dario Matulja ◽  
Maria Kolympadi Markovic ◽  
Gabriela Ambrožić ◽  
Sylvain Laclef ◽  
Sandra Kraljević Pavelić ◽  
...  

Gorgonian corals, which belong to the genus Eunicella, are known as natural sources of diverse compounds with unique structural characteristics and interesting bioactivities both in vitro and in vivo. This review is focused primarily on the secondary metabolites isolated from various Eunicella species. The chemical structures of 64 compounds were divided into three main groups and comprehensively presented: a) terpenoids, b) sterols, and c) alkaloids and nucleosides. The observed biological activities of depicted metabolites with an impact on cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities were reviewed. The most promising biological activities of certain metabolites point to potential candidates for further development in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and other industries, and are highlighted. Total synthesis or the synthetic approaches towards the desired skeletons or natural products are also summarized.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghua Jiang ◽  
Zhenger Wu ◽  
Heng Guo ◽  
Lan Liu ◽  
Senhua Chen

Marine-derived fungi are a significant source of pharmacologically active metabolites with interesting structural properties, especially terpenoids with biological and chemical diversity. In the past five years, there has been a tremendous increase in the rate of new terpenoids from marine-derived fungi being discovered. In this updated review, we examine the chemical structures and bioactive properties of new terpenes from marine-derived fungi, and the biodiversity of these fungi from 2015 to 2019. A total of 140 research papers describing 471 new terpenoids of six groups (monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, sesterterpenes, triterpenes, and meroterpenes) from 133 marine fungal strains belonging to 34 genera were included. Among them, sesquiterpenes, meroterpenes, and diterpenes comprise the largest proportions of terpenes, and the fungi genera of Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Trichoderma are the dominant producers of terpenoids. The majority of the marine-derived fungi are isolated from live marine matter: marine animals and aquatic plants (including mangrove plants and algae). Moreover, many terpenoids display various bioactivities, including cytotoxicity, antibacterial activity, lethal toxicity, anti-inflammatory activity, enzyme inhibitor activity, etc. In our opinion, the chemical diversity and biological activities of these novel terpenoids will provide medical and chemical researchers with a plenty variety of promising lead compounds for the development of marine drugs.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (21) ◽  
pp. 3830
Author(s):  
Hong Le ◽  
Quynh Do ◽  
Mai Doan ◽  
Quyen Vu ◽  
Mai Nguyen ◽  
...  

Marine microorganisms are an invaluable source of novel active secondary metabolites possessing various biological activities. In this study, the extraction and isolation of the marine sediment Penicillium species collected in Vietnam yielded ten secondary metabolites, including sporogen AO-1 (1), 3-indolecarbaldehyde (2), 2-[(5-methyl-1,4-dioxan-2-yl)methoxy]ethanol (3), 2-[(2R-hydroxypropanoyl)amino]benzamide (4), 4-hydroxybenzandehyde (5), chrysogine (6), 3-acetyl-4-hydroxycinnoline (7), acid 1H-indole-3-acetic (8), cyclo (Tyr-Trp) (9), and 2’,3’-dihydrosorbicillin (10). Their structures were identified by the analysis of 1D and 2D NMR data. Among the isolated compounds, 2-[(5-methyl-1,4-dioxan-2-yl)methoxy]ethanol (3) showed a strong inhibitory effect against Enterococcus faecalis with a minimum inhibitory concentration value of 32 µg/mL. Both 2-[(2R-hydroxypropanoyl)amino]benzamide (4) and 4-hydroxybenzandehyde (5) selectively inhibited E. coli with minimum inhibitory concentration values of 16 and 8 µg/mL, respectively. 2’,3’-Dihydrosorbicillin (10) potentially inhibited α-glucosidase activity at a concentration of 2.0 mM (66.31%).


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoling Lu ◽  
Xiaoyu Liu ◽  
Cong Long ◽  
Guoxiang Wang ◽  
Yun Gao ◽  
...  

East China Sea is one of the four sea areas in China, which possesses peculiar ecological environment and many kinds of living creatures, especially the microorganisms. We established the East China Sea microorganism library (during 2006–2010) for the first time, which stored about 30000 strains that covered most kinds of the species. In this paper, 395 pure strains of East China Sea microorganism library which belong to 33 different genera were mainly introduced.Sulfitobacter,Halomonas,Bacillus,Pseudoalteromonas, andIdiomarinawere the most dominant species. On the large-scale biological activity screening of the 395 strains, 100 strains possess different biological activities based on different screening models, of which 11.4% strains have antibacterial activities, 15.9% have cytotoxicity activities, and 6.1% have antioxidation activities. Besides, the secondary metabolites of 6 strains with strong biological activities were studied systematically; diketopiperazines and macrocyclic lactones are the active secondary metabolites. The species and the biological activity of microorganisms diversity, the abundant structure type of the secondary metabolites, and their bioactivities all indicate that East China Sea is a potent marine microorganisms-derived developing resource for drug discovery.


Author(s):  
Sanrda Kim Tiam ◽  
Muriel Gugger ◽  
Justine Demay ◽  
Severine Le Manach ◽  
Charlotte Duval ◽  
...  

Cyanobacteria are an ancient lineage of slow-growing photosynthetic bacteria and a prolific source of natural products with diverse chemical structures and potent biological activities and toxicities. The chemical identification of these compounds remains a major bottleneck. Strategies that can prioritize the most prolific strains and novel compounds are of great interest. Here, we combine chemical analysis and genomics to investigate the chemodiversity of secondary metabolites based on their pattern of distribution within some cyanobacteria. Planktothrix being a cyanobacterial genus known to form blooms worldwide and to produce a broad spectrum of toxins and other bioactive compounds, we applied this combined approach on four closely related strains of Planktothrix. The chemical diversity of the metabolites produced by the four strains was evaluated using an untargeted metabolomics strategy with high-resolution LC-MS. Metabolite profiles were correlated with the potential of metabolite production identified by genomics for the different strains. Although, the Planktothrix strains present a global similarity in term biosynthetic cluster gene for microcystin, aeruginosin and prenylagaramide for example, we found remarkable strain-specific chemo-diversity. Only few of the chemical features were common to the four studied strains. Additionally, the MS/MS data were analyzed using Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) to identify molecular families of the same biosynthetic origin. In conclusion, we present an efficient integrative strategy for elucidating the chemical diversity of a given genus and link the data obtained from analytical chemistry to biosynthetic genes of cyanobacteria.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 584
Author(s):  
Valentin A. Stonik ◽  
Alla A. Kicha ◽  
Timofey V. Malyarenko ◽  
Natalia V. Ivanchina

Asterosaponins are a class of steroid oligoglycosides isolated from starfish with characteristic structures and diverse biological activities. In this review, we have attempted to combine the most important data concerning asterosaponins and give a list of these secondary metabolites with their structural peculiarities. The purpose of this review is to provide a brief but as complete as possible principal information about their chemical structures, taxonomic distribution in the marine environment, distribution in different geographical areas and depths, some properties, biological activities, and functions. Some other rare steroid metabolites from starfish, closely related in structures and probably biogenesis to asterosaponins, are also discussed.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 495
Author(s):  
Ilaria Chiocchio ◽  
Manuela Mandrone ◽  
Paola Tomasi ◽  
Lorenzo Marincich ◽  
Ferruccio Poli

Moving toward a more sustainable development, a pivotal role is played by circular economy and a smarter waste management. Industrial wastes from plants offer a wide spectrum of possibilities for their valorization, still being enriched in high added-value molecules, such as secondary metabolites (SMs). The current review provides an overview of the most common SM classes (chemical structures, classification, biological activities) present in different plant waste/by-products and their potential use in various fields. A bibliographic survey was carried out, taking into account 99 research articles (from 2006 to 2020), summarizing all the information about waste type, its plant source, industrial sector of provenience, contained SMs, reported bioactivities, and proposals for its valorization. This survey highlighted that a great deal of the current publications are focused on the exploitation of plant wastes in human healthcare and food (including cosmetic, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and food additives). However, as summarized in this review, plant SMs also possess an enormous potential for further uses. Accordingly, an increasing number of investigations on neglected plant matrices and their use in areas such as veterinary science or agriculture are expected, considering also the need to implement “greener” practices in the latter sector.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Cavazos ◽  
David Gonzalez ◽  
Jocelyn Lanorio ◽  
Ruby Ynalvez

AbstractThe use of plants as sources for novel antimicrobial as well as antioxidant agents offers advantages. Plants are readily accessible and inexpensive, extracts or compounds from plant sources often demonstrate high level of biological activities. Previous studies have reported antibacterial and antifungal activities within the Fabaceae family that included Acacia species. This study aims to determine presence of antibacterial activity, antioxidant activity, and the secondary metabolites of sequential solvent extracts (acetone, methanol, and acetic acid) of Acacia berlandieri and Acacia rigidula leaves. The antibacterial activity was investigated using a disc diffusion assay. The ferric thiocyanate method was used to assess the ability of all extracts to prevent oxidation. Qualitative phytochemical tests, NMR, IR, and UV–Vis spectroscopy were done to identify potential secondary metabolites. P. alcalifaciens (p < 0.001), E. faecalis (p < 0.01), S. aureus (p < 0.001), and Y. enterocolitica (p < 0.001) were significantly inhibited by A. rigidula extracts when compared to A. berlandieri extracts. A. rigidula’s acetone extract exhibited the significantly (p < 0.001) highest inhibition of peroxidation, 42%. Qualitative phytochemical tests showed positive results for presence of phenols, flavonoids, saponins, terpenes and tannins. NMR, IR, and UV–Vis spectroscopy revealed chemical structures found in flavonoids, saponins, terpenes and tannins, supporting the results of qualitative phytochemical tests. A. berlandieri and A. rigidula leaf extracts have revealed presence of medicinally valued bioactive components. The results of this study provide a basis for further investigations of the A. rigidula leaf extracts. A. rigidula leaf extracts have the potential to serve as a source of novel antimicrobial and antioxidant agents. Graphic abstract


Author(s):  
Keisham S. Singh ◽  
Supriya Tilvi

: The marine sponges of the genus Oceanapia sp. is comprised of more than 50 species and are distributed in the seas around the tropical and subtropical regions. They are mainly found in the northern Indian oceans, Japan, and the south pacific coast. They are highly colored and known to be a rich source of various secondary metabolites, particularly, alkaloids. Several other secondary metabolites were also reported from this genus which include terpenes, sphingolipids, ceramides, cerebrosides, acetylenic acids, and thiocyanatins, etc. Many of these compounds isolated from this genus exhibited various biological properties including anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-HIV, ichthyotoxicity and nematocidal activities. Although several secondary metabolites have been reported from this genus, a dedicated review of the chemicals and biological activities of this genus is so far lacking. Keeping this in mind this review describes the various chemical entities isolated from the sponges of the genus Oceanapia detailing their chemical structures along with their reported biological properties.


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