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Marine Drugs
Special Issues
Bioactive Compounds from Coral Reef Organisms 2021
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Bioactive Compounds from Coral Reef Organisms 2021

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2021) | Viewed by 12696

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jean-Baptiste Raina

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Interests: microbial symbioses; single-cell imaging; coral reef microbiology; marine sulfur cycle

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The biodiversity of coral reefs is unmatched in the marine environment. Whilst they cover a minute portion of the seafloor, they harbour approximately one-third of all marine species. Current research has revealed that coral reef invertebrates and their associated microorganisms can produce a high diversity of secondary metabolites. Many of these compounds are novel and exhibit strong biological activity with properties such as antifouling, antipredation, antimicrobial, or antioxidant.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for researchers to publish their latest research on substances derived from species inhabiting coral reefs. We are specifically interested in new research identifying the chemical structure, activity, source and biosynthetic pathways of bioactive compounds. Additionally, given the many threats that coral reefs are facing worldwide, it will be critical to identify alternative methods of production for compounds with biotechnological potential. Comprehensive review papers that synthesise current knowledge on bioactive compounds in coral reefs are also welcome.

Dr. Jean-Baptiste Raina
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

  • Coral reefs
  • Coral invertebrates
  • Coral microorganisms
  • Biological activity
  • Structure elucidation
  • Functional role
  • Bioprospecting

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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20 pages, 7479 KiB  
Article
Blue Biotechnology: Computational Screening of Sarcophyton Cembranoid Diterpenes for SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibition
by Mahmoud A. A. Ibrahim, Alaa H. M. Abdelrahman, Mohamed A. M. Atia, Tarik A. Mohamed, Mahmoud F. Moustafa, Abdulrahim R. Hakami, Shaden A. M. Khalifa, Fahad A. Alhumaydhi, Faris Alrumaihi, Syed Hani Abidi, Khaled S. Allemailem, Thomas Efferth, Mahmoud E. Soliman, Paul W. Paré, Hesham R. El-Seedi and Mohamed-Elamir F. Hegazy
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(7), 391; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19070391 - 13 Jul 2021
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 5165
Abstract
The coronavirus pandemic has affected more than 150 million people, while over 3.25 million people have died from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As there are no established therapies for COVID-19 treatment, drugs that inhibit viral replication are a promising target; specifically, the [...] Read more.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected more than 150 million people, while over 3.25 million people have died from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As there are no established therapies for COVID-19 treatment, drugs that inhibit viral replication are a promising target; specifically, the main protease (Mpro) that process CoV-encoded polyproteins serves as an Achilles heel for assembly of replication-transcription machinery as well as down-stream viral replication. In the search for potential antiviral drugs that target Mpro, a series of cembranoid diterpenes from the biologically active soft-coral genus Sarcophyton have been examined as SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors. Over 360 metabolites from the genus were screened using molecular docking calculations. Promising diterpenes were further characterized by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) binding energy calculations. According to in silico calculations, five cembranoid diterpenes manifested adequate binding affinities as Mpro inhibitors with ΔGbinding < −33.0 kcal/mol. Binding energy and structural analyses of the most potent Sarcophyton inhibitor, bislatumlide A (340), was compared to darunavir, an HIV protease inhibitor that has been recently subjected to clinical-trial as an anti-COVID-19 drug. In silico analysis indicates that 340 has a higher binding affinity against Mpro than darunavir with ΔGbinding values of −43.8 and −34.8 kcal/mol, respectively throughout 100 ns MD simulations. Drug-likeness calculations revealed robust bioavailability and protein-protein interactions were identified for 340; biochemical signaling genes included ACE, MAPK14 and ESR1 as identified based on a STRING database. Pathway enrichment analysis combined with reactome mining revealed that 340 has the capability to re-modulate the p38 MAPK pathway hijacked by SARS-CoV-2 and antagonize injurious effects. These findings justify further in vivo and in vitro testing of 340 as an antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Compounds from Coral Reef Organisms 2021)
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10 pages, 5185 KiB  
Article
11β,20β-Epoxybriaranes from the Gorgonian Coral Junceella fragilis (Ellisellidae)
by Tung-Pin Su, Tsu-Jen Kuo, San-Nan Yang, Gene-Hsiang Lee, Yen-Tung Lee, Yi-Chen Wang, Jih-Jung Chen, Zhi-Hong Wen, Tsong-Long Hwang and Ping-Jyun Sung
Mar. Drugs 2020, 18(4), 183; https://doi.org/10.3390/md18040183 - 31 Mar 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2636
Abstract
Two 11,20-epoxybriaranes, including a known compound, juncenolide K (1), as well as a new metabolite, fragilide X (2), have been isolated from gorgonian Junceella fragilis collected off the waters of Taiwan. The absolute configuration of juncenolide K (1 [...] Read more.
Two 11,20-epoxybriaranes, including a known compound, juncenolide K (1), as well as a new metabolite, fragilide X (2), have been isolated from gorgonian Junceella fragilis collected off the waters of Taiwan. The absolute configuration of juncenolide K (1) was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis for the first time in this study and the structure, including the absolute configuration of briarane 2 was established on the basis of spectroscopic analysis and compared with that of model compound 1. One aspect of the stereochemistry of the known compound 1 was revised. Briarane 2 was found to enhance the generation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) release from RAW 264.7 cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Compounds from Coral Reef Organisms 2021)
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Review

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20 pages, 2994 KiB  
Review
Possible Functional Roles of Patellamides in the Ascidian-Prochloron Symbiosis
by Philipp Baur, Michael Kühl, Peter Comba and Lars Behrendt
Mar. Drugs 2022, 20(2), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/md20020119 - 2 Feb 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3335
Abstract
Patellamides are highly bioactive compounds found along with other cyanobactins in the symbiosis between didemnid ascidians and the enigmatic cyanobacterium Prochloron. The biosynthetic pathway of patellamide synthesis is well understood, the relevant operons have been identified in the Prochloron genome and genes [...] Read more.
Patellamides are highly bioactive compounds found along with other cyanobactins in the symbiosis between didemnid ascidians and the enigmatic cyanobacterium Prochloron. The biosynthetic pathway of patellamide synthesis is well understood, the relevant operons have been identified in the Prochloron genome and genes involved in patellamide synthesis are among the most highly transcribed cyanobacterial genes in hospite. However, a more detailed study of the in vivo dynamics of patellamides and their function in the ascidian-Prochloron symbiosis is complicated by the fact that Prochloron remains uncultivated despite numerous attempts since its discovery in 1975. A major challenge is to account for the highly dynamic microenvironmental conditions experienced by Prochloron in hospite, where light-dark cycles drive rapid shifts between hyperoxia and anoxia as well as pH variations from pH ~6 to ~10. Recently, work on patellamide analogues has pointed out a range of different catalytic functions of patellamide that could prove essential for the ascidian-Prochloron symbiosis and could be modulated by the strong microenvironmental dynamics. Here, we review fundamental properties of patellamides and their occurrence and dynamics in vitro and in vivo. We discuss possible functions of patellamides in the ascidian-Prochloron symbiosis and identify important knowledge gaps and needs for further experimental studies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioactive Compounds from Coral Reef Organisms 2021)
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