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Marine Drugs
Special Issues
Biologically Active Compounds from Marine Invertebrates 2025
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Biologically Active Compounds from Marine Invertebrates 2025

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Chemoecology for Drug Discovery".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 5030

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Crisalejandra Rivera-Pérez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centro de Investigaciónes Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
Interests: biotechnology; mollusk; antimicrobial; marine natural products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Biologically active compounds derived from marine invertebrates have garnered significant interest from the scientific community due to their vast structural diversity and ability to interact with various biological pathways. These organisms, which inhabit extreme environments and have developed unique defense and survival mechanisms, are an invaluable source of secondary metabolites with therapeutic potential. Among their most studied properties are antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities, positioning marine invertebrates as a key focus in the search for novel pharmaceutical agents.

The focus of the included articles should be to highlight the potential of bioactive compounds from marine invertebrates, emphasizing their diversity in molecular targets and mechanistic effects. Additionally, approaches describing synergistic combination treatments of these marine compounds with clinically used or experimental therapeutic agents will be welcomed, aiming to enhance the efficacy and application of these bioactive molecules in various biomedical fields.

For this Special Issue, we invite academic scientists to submit comprehensive reviews and original research articles focusing on biologically active compounds derived from marine invertebrates. These compounds have shown significant potential in various fields, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and biomedical sciences, due to their unique chemical structures and diverse bioactivities. We welcome contributions that explore the discovery of novel compounds, mechanisms of action, bioassays, and potential applications.

Dr. Crisalejandra Rivera-Pérez
Guest Editor

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. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2900 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

  • bioactive compounds
  • antimicrobial
  • antioxidants
  • anticancerogenic
  • angiotensin activity
  • biomedicine
  • biotechnology
  • marine natural products

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 1783 KiB  
Article
New Polyhydroxysteroid Glycosides with Antioxidant Activity from the Far Eastern Sea Star Ceramaster patagonicus
by Timofey V. Malyarenko, Viktor M. Zakharenko, Alla A. Kicha, Arina I. Ponomarenko, Igor V. Manzhulo, Anatoly I. Kalinovsky, Roman S. Popov, Pavel S. Dmitrenok and Natalia V. Ivanchina
Mar. Drugs 2024, 22(11), 508; https://doi.org/10.3390/md22110508 - 10 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1682
Abstract
Four new glycosides of polyhydroxysteroids, ceramasterosides A, B, D, and E (1–4), and two previously known compounds, ceramasteroside C1 (5) and attenuatoside B-I (6), were isolated from an extract of a deep-sea sea star [...] Read more.
Four new glycosides of polyhydroxysteroids, ceramasterosides A, B, D, and E (1–4), and two previously known compounds, ceramasteroside C1 (5) and attenuatoside B-I (6), were isolated from an extract of a deep-sea sea star species, the orange cookie star Ceramaster patagonicus. The structures of 1–4 were elucidated by the extensive NMR and ESIMS methods. Steroid monoglycosides 1 and 2 had a common 3β,6α,8,15β,16β-pentahydroxysteroid nucleus and a C–29 oxidized stigmastane side chain and differed from each other only in monosaccharide residues. Ceramasteroside A (1) contained 3-O-methyl-4-O-sulfated β-D-xylopyranose, while ceramasteroside B (2) had 3-O-methyl-4-O-sulfated β-D-glucopyranose, recorded from starfish-derived steroid glycosides for the first time. Their biological activity was studied using a model of lipopolysaccharide-induced (LPS) inflammation in a SIM-A9 murine microglial cell line. During the LPS-induced activation of microglial cells, 1, 3, and 5, at a non-toxic concentration of 1 µM, showed the highest efficiency in reducing the production of intracellular NO, while 4 proved to be most efficient in reducing the extracellular nitrite production. All the test compounds reduced the LPS-induced malondialdehyde (MDA) production. The in vitro experiments have demonstrated, for the first time, the antioxidant activity of the compounds under study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Active Compounds from Marine Invertebrates 2025)
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Review

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15 pages, 3697 KiB  
Review
Living Coral Displays, Research Laboratories, and Biobanks as Important Reservoirs of Chemodiversity with Potential for Biodiscovery
by Ricardo Calado, Miguel C. Leal, Ruben X. G. Silva, Mara Borba, António Ferro, Mariana Almeida, Diana Madeira and Helena Vieira
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(2), 89; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23020089 - 19 Feb 2025
Viewed by 824
Abstract
Over the last decades, bioprospecting of tropical corals has revealed numerous bioactive compounds with potential for biotechnological applications. However, this search involves sampling in natural reefs, and this is currently hampered by multiple ethical and technological constraints. Living coral displays, research laboratories, and [...] Read more.
Over the last decades, bioprospecting of tropical corals has revealed numerous bioactive compounds with potential for biotechnological applications. However, this search involves sampling in natural reefs, and this is currently hampered by multiple ethical and technological constraints. Living coral displays, research laboratories, and biobanks currently offer an opportunity to continue to unravel coral chemodiversity, acting as “Noah’s Arks” that may continue to support the bioprospecting of molecules of interest. This issue is even more relevant if one considers that tropical coral reefs currently face unprecedent threats and irreversible losses that may impair the biodiscovery of molecules with potential for new products, processes, and services. Living coral displays provide controlled environments for studying corals and producing both known and new metabolites under varied conditions, and they are not prone to common bottlenecks associated with bioprospecting in natural coral reefs, such as loss of the source and replicability. Research laboratories may focus on a particular coral species or bioactive compound using corals that were cultured ex situ, although they may differ from wild conspecifics in metabolite production both in quantitative and qualitative terms. Biobanks collect and preserve coral specimens, tissues, cells, and/or information (e.g., genes, associated microorganisms), which offers a plethora of data to support the study of bioactive compounds’ mode of action without having to cope with issues related to access, standardization, and regulatory compliance. Bioprospecting in these settings faces several challenges and opportunities. On one hand, it is difficult to ensure the complexity of highly biodiverse ecosystems that shape the production and chemodiversity of corals. On the other hand, it is possible to maximize biomass production and fine tune the synthesis of metabolites of interest under highly controlled environments. Collaborative efforts are needed to overcome barriers and foster opportunities to fully harness the chemodiversity of tropical corals before in-depth knowledge of this pool of metabolites is irreversibly lost due to tropical coral reefs’ degradation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Active Compounds from Marine Invertebrates 2025)
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19 pages, 4015 KiB  
Review
Asteroid Saponins: A Review of Their Bioactivity and Selective Cytotoxicity
by Stuart J. Smith, Tianfang Wang and Scott F. Cummins
Mar. Drugs 2024, 22(12), 552; https://doi.org/10.3390/md22120552 - 7 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1544
Abstract
Saponins are a diverse class of secondary metabolites that are often reported to exhibit a variety of pharmacological applications. While research into the elucidation and application of plant and class Holothuroidea-derived saponins (i.e., sea cucumbers) is extensive, the class Asteroidea-derived saponins (i.e., seastars) [...] Read more.
Saponins are a diverse class of secondary metabolites that are often reported to exhibit a variety of pharmacological applications. While research into the elucidation and application of plant and class Holothuroidea-derived saponins (i.e., sea cucumbers) is extensive, the class Asteroidea-derived saponins (i.e., seastars) have been largely overlooked and primarily limited to elucidation. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the cytotoxic activities of asteroid-derived saponins against various cell cultures, for instance, mammalian erythrocytes, multiple microbial strains and cancer cell lines, including melanoma, breast, colon, and lung cancers. Highlighting the distinct structural variations in these saponins, this review examines their selective cytotoxicity and potency, with many demonstrating IC50 values in the low micromolar range. Specific compounds, such as asterosaponins and polyhydroxylated saponins, exhibit noteworthy effects, particularly against melanoma and lung carcinoma cells, while triterpenoid saponins were found to be highly cytotoxic to both erythrocytes and fungal cells. This review also addresses gaps in the research area, including the need for additional in vitro antimicrobial studies, in vivo studies, and further exploration of their mechanisms of action. By consolidating recent findings, we have shed light on the therapeutic potential of asteroid-derived steroidal saponins in developing novel antimicrobial and anticancer agents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biologically Active Compounds from Marine Invertebrates 2025)
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