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Marine Drugs, Volume 15, Issue 10

October 2017 - 36 articles

Cover Story: The Conus genus includes around 500 species of marine mollusks producing venomous peptides known as Conotoxins classified into 16 superfamilies. Among these, µ-Conotoxins are potent and specific blockers of voltage-gated sodium channels, which consists of one α-subunit and two auxiliary β-subunits. The α-subunit comprised of four homologue domains (I-IV), each consisting of six transmembrane helices (S1–S6). Helices S5 and S6 form the channel pore while S1–S4 form the voltage sensor. β-subunits contain immunoglobulin-like folds. Sodium channels are responsible for the influx of sodium ions that generates the action potential in excitable cells. Hyperexcitability results in pain perception and transmission. The μ-conotoxins bind the pore region of sodium channels preventing ion conductance, so they may represent potential analgesic compounds in the clinical management of pain conditions. View this paper
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Articles (36)

  • Article
  • Open Access
40 Citations
5,090 Views
17 Pages

Chitosan Ascorbate Nanoparticles for the Vaginal Delivery of Antibiotic Drugs in Atrophic Vaginitis

  • Silvia Rossi,
  • Barbara Vigani,
  • Antonella Puccio,
  • Maria Cristina Bonferoni,
  • Giuseppina Sandri and
  • Franca Ferrari

19 October 2017

The aim of the present work was the development of chitosan ascorbate nanoparticles (CSA NPs) loaded into a fast-dissolving matrix for the delivery of antibiotic drugs in the treatment of atrophic vaginitis. CSA NPs loaded with amoxicillin trihydrate...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
5,944 Views
14 Pages

18 October 2017

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) protecting the cells against freezing are produced in response to extremely low temperatures in diverse psychrophilic organisms, and they are encoded by multiple gene families. The AFP of Antarctic marine diatom Chaetoceros...

  • Review
  • Open Access
77 Citations
10,791 Views
35 Pages

Sea Cucumber Glycosides: Chemical Structures, Producing Species and Important Biological Properties

  • Muhammad Abdul Mojid Mondol,
  • Hee Jae Shin,
  • M. Aminur Rahman and
  • Mohamad Tofazzal Islam

17 October 2017

Sea cucumbers belonging to echinoderm are traditionally used as tonic food in China and other Asian countries. They produce abundant biologically active triterpene glycosides. More than 300 triterpene glycosides have been isolated and characterized f...

  • Article
  • Open Access
48 Citations
6,763 Views
15 Pages

Marine-Derived 2-Aminoimidazolone Alkaloids. Leucettamine B-Related Polyandrocarpamines Inhibit Mammalian and Protozoan DYRK & CLK Kinases

  • Nadège Loaëc,
  • Eletta Attanasio,
  • Benoît Villiers,
  • Emilie Durieu,
  • Tania Tahtouh,
  • Morgane Cam,
  • Rohan A. Davis,
  • Aline Alencar,
  • Mélanie Roué and
  • Marie-Lise Bourguet-Kondracki
  • + 7 authors

17 October 2017

A large diversity of 2-aminoimidazolone alkaloids is produced by various marine invertebrates, especially by the marine Calcareous sponges Leucetta and Clathrina. The phylogeny of these sponges and the wide scope of 2-aminoimidazolone alkaloids they...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
4,422 Views
18 Pages

17 October 2017

The incorporation of brown algae into biopolymer beads or foams for metal sorption has been previously reported. However, the direct use of these biomasses for preparing foams is a new approach. In this study, two kinds of porous foams were prepared...

  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
5,787 Views
14 Pages

Identification of (Z)-2,3-Diphenylacrylonitrile as Anti-Cancer Molecule in Persian Gulf Sea Cucumber Holothuria parva

  • Salimeh Amidi,
  • Zahra Hashemi,
  • Abbasali Motallebi,
  • Melika Nazemi,
  • Hoda Farrokhpayam,
  • Enayatollah Seydi and
  • Jalal Pourahmad

16 October 2017

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), also named cancerous hepatoma, is the most common type of malignant neoplasia of the liver. In this research, we screened the Persian Gulf sea cucumber Holothuria parva (H. parva) methanolic sub-fractions for the possi...

  • Review
  • Open Access
67 Citations
10,325 Views
28 Pages

13 October 2017

Guanidinium toxins, such as saxitoxin (STX), tetrodotoxin (TTX) and their analogs, are naturally occurring alkaloids with divergent evolutionary origins and biogeographical distribution, but which share the common chemical feature of guanidinium moie...

  • Feature Paper
  • Review
  • Open Access
40 Citations
7,129 Views
13 Pages

Conotoxins as Tools to Understand the Physiological Function of Voltage-Gated Calcium (CaV) Channels

  • David Ramírez,
  • Wendy Gonzalez,
  • Rafael A. Fissore and
  • Ingrid Carvacho

13 October 2017

Voltage-gated calcium (CaV) channels are widely expressed and are essential for the completion of multiple physiological processes. Close regulation of their activity by specific inhibitors and agonists become fundamental to understand their role in...

  • Article
  • Open Access
21 Citations
6,028 Views
10 Pages

Discovering the Biological Target of 5-epi-Sinuleptolide Using a Combination of Proteomic Approaches

  • Elva Morretta,
  • Roberta Esposito,
  • Carmen Festa,
  • Raffaele Riccio,
  • Agostino Casapullo and
  • Maria Chiara Monti

13 October 2017

Sinuleptolide and its congeners are diterpenes with a norcembranoid skeleton isolated from the soft coral genus Sinularia. These marine metabolites are endowed with relevant biological activities, mainly associated with cancer development. 5-epi-sinu...

  • Article
  • Open Access
89 Citations
6,404 Views
18 Pages

13 October 2017

Food protein-derived hydrolysates with multi-bioactivities such as antihypertensive and antioxidant properties have recently received special attention since both activities can play significant roles in preventing cardiovascular diseases. This study...

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Mar. Drugs - ISSN 1660-3397Creative Common CC BY license