Antioxidant Peptides from Marine Organisms: Structural Insights, Functional Mechanisms, and Sustainable Applications

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 June 2026 | Viewed by 914

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
National and Provincial Joint Laboratory of Exploration, Utilization of Marine Aquatic Genetic Resources, National Engineering Research Center of Marine Facilities Aquaculture, School of Marine Science and Technology, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan 316022, China
Interests: research on comprehensive utilization of marine biological resources and germplasm resources development and utilization and genetic breeding; reproductive biology; developmental biology; reproductive regulation; cephalopods
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, there have been an increasing number of reports on the preparation, structure, and activity of marine antioxidant peptides. These peptides, derived from the vast biodiversity of marine ecosystems including fish, algae, mollusks, and microorganisms, represent an untapped reservoir of bioactive compounds shaped by evolutionary adaptation to diverse marine environments. New methods and technologies such as computer-aided mathematical models (molecular docking, QSAR studies, etc.), bioinformatics tools, and real-time-updated protein databases have been widely explored and studied for marine antioxidant peptides.

In addition, marine antioxidant peptides not only retain high nutritional value, but also enhance the treatment of oxidation-related diseases, delay the oxidation of food, and thereby improve quality of life. Their structural and functional diversity is intrinsically linked to the genetic and organismic diversity of their marine sources, offering unique opportunities to understand how biodiversity contributes to bioactive compound discovery.

Given the widespread and current interest in this topic, this Special Issue joins Antioxidants and Diversity with the aim of publishing recent research on the following topics of interest:

  • Using new methods and technologies to produce antioxidant peptides from marine proteins;
  • Comprehensive studies of the structure–activity relationship of marine antioxidant peptides;
  • Understanding the antioxidant mechanism and the verification of health benefits in vivo;
  • Exploring the biodiversity basis of marine peptide bioactivity;
  • Sustainable utilization of marine biological resources for peptide discovery.

We particularly encourage studies that reveal the connections between marine biodiversity and peptide bioactivity, as well as research addressing the conservation and sustainable use of marine genetic resources.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Antioxidants.

Prof. Dr. Changfeng Chi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • marine peptides
  • antioxidant activity
  • structure identification
  • structural modification
  • bioactivity and function
  • structure–function relationship
  • functional foods
  • biodiversity
  • organismic diversity and diversity preservation
  • genetic diversity

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 4431 KB  
Article
Neuropeptide F and Its Receptor Genes in the Cuttlefish Sepiella japonica: Identification, Characterization, Expression, and Potential Role in Food Intake
by Yanlin Liu, Changpu Song, Peixuan Fang, Shuang Li, Xu Zhou and Changfeng Chi
Diversity 2026, 18(3), 140; https://doi.org/10.3390/d18030140 - 26 Feb 2026
Viewed by 573
Abstract
Neuropeptide F (NPF), an invertebrate homolog of vertebrate neuropeptide Y (NPY), exerts pleiotropic functions through its interaction with the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) neuropeptide F receptor (NPFR). However, the role of the NPF/NPFR system in the Chinese common cuttlefish Sepiella japonica Sasaki, 1929—a [...] Read more.
Neuropeptide F (NPF), an invertebrate homolog of vertebrate neuropeptide Y (NPY), exerts pleiotropic functions through its interaction with the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) neuropeptide F receptor (NPFR). However, the role of the NPF/NPFR system in the Chinese common cuttlefish Sepiella japonica Sasaki, 1929—a commercially and scientifically important cephalopod species in East China Sea aquaculture—remains unclear. In the present study, SjNPF/SjNPFR genes were cloned from S. japonica. Multiple alignments demonstrated that SjNPF/SjNPFR exhibited a high identity with that of other cephalopods. Spatio-temporal expression patterns revealed that SjNPF and SjNPFR transcripts were relatively highly expressed in the central nervous and digestive systems across all developmental stages. In situ hybridization (ISH) monitored clear and stable positive signals of SjNPF and SjNPFR mRNA at the junction of the subvertical lobe and the vertical lobe, as well as in the brachial lobe, pedal lobe and the palleovisceral lobe. Subcellular localization studies showed that SjNPF was primarily localized in the cytoplasm, whereas SjNPFR was membrane-localized. Moreover, under feeding-regulatory conditions (5-day starvation followed by 3-day refeeding), mRNA expression levels of SjNPF and SjNPFR in the treated group were positively correlated with starvation and negatively correlated with refeeding. These findings provide valuable insights for future investigations into the pleiotropic functional roles of the NPF/NPFR system in S. japonica and the peptidergic regulation of this system in cephalopods. Full article
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