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Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Drugs and Nutraceuticals...
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Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Drugs and Nutraceuticals of Marine Origin

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Pathology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2023) | Viewed by 6203

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Adriana Albini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Edificio U8, Via Cadore 48, 20900 Monza, MI, Italy
Interests: inflammation; angiogenesis; mechanisms; invasion
Dr. Clementina Sansone

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy
Interests: marine biotechnology; drug discovery; cell biology; pharmaceuticals; nutraceuticals and cosmetics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

Recent epidemiological studies are providing strong evidence on the beneficial health effects of dietary measures, leading scientists to actively investigate which foods and which specific agents in the diet can prevent diseases. Public health officers and medical experts should collaborate in the design of disease prevention diets for nutritional intervention. Functional foods are emerging as an instrument for dietary intervention in disease prevention. Functional food products are technologically developed ingredients with specific health benefits. Among the promising sources of functional foods and chemopreventive diets of interest, marine organisms, and in particular microorganisms, are gaining worldwide attention, based on their richness in high-value products, including carotenoids, proteins, vitamins, essential amino acids, omega-rich oils and, in general, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds. The beneficial effects of the consumption of marine nutraceuticals on human health and/or wellness could, in the future, be useful in preventing or delaying the onset of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In this Special Issue, we invite authors to report and discuss the present and future roles of marine sources of functional foods/beverages for human wellbeing, focusing on perspectives in chemoprevention. This Special Issue is also focused on the analysis of the different classes of marine compounds with health outputs (based on their potential chemoprevention activities).

Dr. Adriana Albini
Dr. Clementina Sansone
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • functional food
  • microalgae
  • nutraceutical
  • chemoprevention
  • marine bioactive compounds
  • cancer

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 7212 KiB  
Article
Skeletonema marinoi Extracts and Associated Carotenoid Fucoxanthin Downregulate Pro-Angiogenic Mediators on Prostate Cancer and Endothelial Cells
by Luana Calabrone, Valentina Carlini, Douglas M. Noonan, Marco Festa, Cinzia Ferrario, Danilo Morelli, Debora Macis, Angelo Fontana, Luigi Pistelli, Christophe Brunet, Clementina Sansone and Adriana Albini
Cells 2023, 12(7), 1053; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12071053 - 30 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1694
Abstract
The exploration of natural preventive molecules for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical use has recently increased. In this scenario, marine microorganisms represent an underestimated source of bioactive products endowed with beneficial effects on health that include anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, differentiating, anti-tumor, and anti-angiogenic activities. Here, we [...] Read more.
The exploration of natural preventive molecules for nutraceutical and pharmaceutical use has recently increased. In this scenario, marine microorganisms represent an underestimated source of bioactive products endowed with beneficial effects on health that include anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, differentiating, anti-tumor, and anti-angiogenic activities. Here, we tested the potential chemopreventive and anti-angiogenic activities of an extract from the marine coastal diatom Skeletonema marinoi Sarno and Zingone (Sm) on prostate cancer (PCa) and endothelial cells. We also tested one of the main carotenoids of the diatom, the xanthophyll pigment fucoxanthin (Fuco). Fuco from the literature is a potential candidate compound involved in chemopreventive activities. Sm extract and Fuco were able to inhibit PCa cell growth and hinder vascular network formation of endothelial cells. The reduced number of cells was partially due to growth inhibition and apoptosis. We studied the molecular targets by qPCR and membrane antibody arrays. Angiogenesis and inflammation molecules were modulated. In particular, Fuco downregulated the expression of Angiopoietin 2, CXCL5, TGFβ, IL6, STAT3, MMP1, TIMP1 and TIMP2 in both prostate and endothelial cells. Our study confirmed microalgae-derived drugs as potentially relevant sources of novel nutraceuticals, providing candidates for potential dietary or dietary supplement intervention in cancer prevention approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Drugs and Nutraceuticals of Marine Origin)
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13 pages, 1785 KiB  
Article
A Comparative Analysis of Mucus Immunomodulatory Properties from Seven Marine Gastropods from the Mediterranean Sea
by Clementina Sansone, Cecilia Balestra, Luigi Pistelli, Angelo Del Mondo, David Osca, Christophe Brunet and Fabio Crocetta
Cells 2022, 11(15), 2340; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11152340 - 29 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1724
Abstract
The treatment of inflammatory and immune-related diseases due to dysfunctioning of the immune system necessitates modulation of the immune response through immunomodulatory compounds. Marine environments are considered as a new frontier for health benefit product implementations. Marine biodiversity is still a low explored [...] Read more.
The treatment of inflammatory and immune-related diseases due to dysfunctioning of the immune system necessitates modulation of the immune response through immunomodulatory compounds. Marine environments are considered as a new frontier for health benefit product implementations. Marine biodiversity is still a low explored resource, despite it is expected to represent an important platform for chemical bioactive compounds. Within the phylum Mollusca, gastropods are known to synthetize mucus, the latter presenting relevant bioactive properties, e.g., related to immunomodulant molecules able to activate the innate and acquired immune system. This study proposes a bioprospecting of the immunomodulant activity of mucus isolated from seven common gastropod species from the Gulf of Naples (Mediterranean Sea). Results showed that not all mucus displayed a significant cytotoxic activity on the two human cancer cell lines A549 and A2058. On the other hand, the mucus from Bolinus brandaris was strongly bioactive and was therefore thoroughly investigated at cellular, molecular, and protein levels on the human monocytes U937 line. It can conclusively induce monocyte differentiation in vitro and significantly stimulate natural immunity response. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Drugs and Nutraceuticals of Marine Origin)
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24 pages, 2195 KiB  
Article
Mitigation of Memory Impairment with Fermented Fucoidan and λ-Carrageenan Supplementation through Modulating the Gut Microbiota and Their Metagenome Function in Hippocampal Amyloid-β Infused Rats
by Ting Zhang, Xuangao Wu, Heng Yuan, Shaokai Huang and Sunmin Park
Cells 2022, 11(15), 2301; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11152301 - 26 Jul 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2169
Abstract
Attenuating acetylcholinesterase and insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling in the hippocampus is associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) development. Fucoidan and carrageenan are brown and red algae, respectively, with potent antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiviral activities. This study examined how low-molecular-weight (MW) and high-MW fucoidan [...] Read more.
Attenuating acetylcholinesterase and insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling in the hippocampus is associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) development. Fucoidan and carrageenan are brown and red algae, respectively, with potent antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiviral activities. This study examined how low-molecular-weight (MW) and high-MW fucoidan and λ-carrageenan would improve memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease-induced rats caused by an infusion of toxic amyloid-β(Aβ). Fucoidan and λ-carrageenan were dissected into low-MW by Luteolibacter algae and Pseudoalteromonas carrageenovora. Rats receiving an Aβ(25–35) infusion in the CA1 region of the hippocampus were fed dextrin (AD-Con), 1% high-MW fucoidan (AD-F-H), 1% low-MW fucoidan (AD-F-L), 1% high-MW λ-carrageenan (AD-C-H), and 1% low-MW λ-carrageenan (AD-C-L) for six weeks. Rats to receive saline infusion (Normal-Con) had an AD-Con diet. The AD-F-L group showed an improved memory function, which manifested as an enhanced Y-maze spontaneous alternation test, water maze, and passive avoidance tests, similar to the Normal-Con group. AD-F-L also potentiated hippocampal insulin signaling and increased the expression of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. AD-C-L improved the memory function mainly by increasing the BDNF content. AD-F-H and AD-C-H did not improve the memory function. Compared to AD-Con, the ascending order of AD-C-H, AD-F-H, AD-C-L, and AD-F-L increased insulin signaling by enhancing the pSTAT3→pAkt→pGSK-3β pathway. AD-F-L improved glucose tolerance the most. Compared to AD-CON, the AD-F-L treatment increased the serum acetate concentrations and compensated for the defect of cerebral glucose metabolism. AD-Con increased Clostridium, Terrisporobacter and Sporofaciens compared to Normal-Con, and AD-F-L and AD-C-L increased Akkermentia. In conclusion, AD-F-L and AD-C-L alleviated the memory function in the rats with induced AD symptoms by modulating. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Action of Drugs and Nutraceuticals of Marine Origin)
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