Emerging Technologies and Inter-disciplinary Approaches to Explore the Therapeutic Potential of Marine Biodiversity

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 August 2021) | Viewed by 15256

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Research Assistant Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Michigan
Interests: Natural Products; Marine Organisms; Microbial Engineering; Drug Targets; Secondary Metabolites; Drug Discovery; Cheminformatics; Molecular Networking; High-throughput Screening

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,                

Inspired by tremendous technological advances, natural products research is undergoing a fascinating era of rational transformation. High resolution spectroscopic technologies, novel separation methodologies, high throughput screening, and high content screening are allowing the characterization of never before identified chemistry. Combining the progress in the discovery technologies with modern data-based informatics solutions, like AntiSmash, molecular networking presents novel opportunities to probe the “depth” of marine chemical dark matter. In this Special Issue of Marine Drugs, you are invited to submit articles that describe the natural products discovery from the perspective of cheminformatics approaches, high-throughput screening, microbial engineering, biosynthesis, rational drug targeting, and mode of action studies.

Dr. Ashootosh Tripathi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • Marine natural products
  • Cheminformatics
  • Biosynthesis
  • High-throughput screening

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 2067 KiB  
Article
Identification of a New Antimicrobial, Desertomycin H, Utilizing a Modified Crowded Plate Technique
by Osama G. Mohamed, Sadaf Dorandish, Rebecca Lindow, Megan Steltz, Ifrah Shoukat, Maira Shoukat, Hussein Chehade, Sara Baghdadi, Madelaine McAlister-Raeburn, Asad Kamal, Dawit Abebe, Khaled Ali, Chelsey Ivy, Maria Antonova, Pamela Schultz, Michael Angell, Daniel Clemans, Timothy Friebe, David Sherman, Anne M. Casper, Paul A. Price and Ashootosh Tripathiadd Show full author list remove Hide full author list
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(8), 424; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19080424 - 27 Jul 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 11959
Abstract
The antibiotic-resistant bacteria-associated infections are a major global healthcare threat. New classes of antimicrobial compounds are urgently needed as the frequency of infections caused by multidrug-resistant microbes continues to rise. Recent metagenomic data have demonstrated that there is still biosynthetic potential encoded in [...] Read more.
The antibiotic-resistant bacteria-associated infections are a major global healthcare threat. New classes of antimicrobial compounds are urgently needed as the frequency of infections caused by multidrug-resistant microbes continues to rise. Recent metagenomic data have demonstrated that there is still biosynthetic potential encoded in but transcriptionally silent in cultivatable bacterial genomes. However, the culture conditions required to identify and express silent biosynthetic gene clusters that yield natural products with antimicrobial activity are largely unknown. Here, we describe a new antibiotic discovery scheme, dubbed the modified crowded plate technique (mCPT), that utilizes complex microbial interactions to elicit antimicrobial production from otherwise silent biosynthetic gene clusters. Using the mCPT as part of the antibiotic crowdsourcing educational program Tiny EarthTM, we isolated over 1400 antibiotic-producing microbes, including 62 showing activity against multidrug-resistant pathogens. The natural product extracts generated from six microbial isolates showed potent activity against vancomycin-intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus. We utilized a targeted approach that coupled mass spectrometry data with bioactivity, yielding a new macrolactone class of metabolite, desertomycin H. In this study, we successfully demonstrate a concept that significantly increased our ability to quickly and efficiently identify microbes capable of the silent antibiotic production. Full article
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11 pages, 9143 KiB  
Communication
Localization and Bioreactivity of Cysteine-Rich Secretions in the Marine Gastropod Nucella lapillus
by Mariaelena D’Ambrosio, Cátia Gonçalves, Mariana Calmão, Maria Rodrigues and Pedro M. Costa
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(5), 276; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19050276 - 15 May 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2524
Abstract
Marine biodiversity has been yielding promising novel bioproducts from venomous animals. Despite the auspices of conotoxins, which originated the paradigmatic painkiller Prialt, the biotechnological potential of gastropod venoms remains to be explored. Marine bioprospecting is expanding towards temperate species like the dogwhelk Nucella [...] Read more.
Marine biodiversity has been yielding promising novel bioproducts from venomous animals. Despite the auspices of conotoxins, which originated the paradigmatic painkiller Prialt, the biotechnological potential of gastropod venoms remains to be explored. Marine bioprospecting is expanding towards temperate species like the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus, which is suspected to secrete immobilizing agents through its salivary glands with a relaxing effect on the musculature of its preferential prey, Mytilus sp. This work focused on detecting, localizing, and testing the bioreactivity of cysteine-rich proteins and peptides, whose presence is a signature of animal venoms and poisons. The highest content of thiols was found in crude protein extracts from the digestive gland, which is associated with digestion, followed by the peribuccal mass, where the salivary glands are located. Conversely, the foot and siphon (which the gastropod uses for feeding) are not the main organs involved in toxin secretion. Ex vivo bioassays with Mytilus gill tissue disclosed the differential bioreactivity of crude protein extracts. Secretions from the digestive gland and peribuccal mass caused the most significant molecular damage, with evidence for the induction of apoptosis. These early findings indicate that salivary glands are a promising target for the extraction and characterization of bioactive cysteine-rich proteinaceous toxins from the species. Full article
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