Marine Natural Products and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 10366

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Science Campus, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630 003, India
Interests: algal metabolites; drug discovery; enzyme inhibitors; functional foods; marine and plant natural products; molecular pharmacology of natural products

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Guest Editor
Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), Rochester, New York, USA

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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, The Ministry of Education of China, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China
Interests: marine natural products; isolation and structural confirmation; bioactivity; lead compounds; marine fungi
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide, which involves devastating dysfunctions of the heart (cardiac) and the blood vessels (vascular). CVD includes atherosclerosis, hypertension, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, arrhythmia, ischemic stroke, and coronary heart disease. The development of CVD is the result of complex interactions between different cell types and processes, such as genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, nutritional status, and environmental factors. The residual cardiovascular risk remains very high despite the clinical use of anti-CVD drugs, such as lipid-lowering statins. This scenario highlights the urgent need to identify novel therapeutic agents for treating CVD. With the development of biotechnology, pharmacology, and chemical biology, continued efforts are geared towards the discovery of new drugs or the reposition of currently FDA-approved drugs for CVD therapy. Numerous studies have indicated that marine natural products are one of the most important sources of lead compounds in drug discovery for their natural origin, multiple bioactivities, and relatively high safety profile. Studies in the past decade have indicated that several marine-derived natural products represent an underexplored reservoir for the discovery of cardiovascular lead drugs with unique scaffolds and potential exploitation in the pharmaceutical industry. They also exhibit a wide variety of biological activities against CVD, such as anti-oxidant, lipid-lowering, hypoglycemic, vasodilation, anticoagulation, anti-platelet activation, thrombin inhibition, ion channel-, receptor-, enzyme-blocking activities and anti-inflammatory effects.  This Special Issue is proposed to facilitate the translation of marine-derived natural products into pre-clinical or clinical trials.

We herewith invite you to participate in this Special Issue by contributing original research papers, review articles (both long reviews and mini-reviews), and technical notes relevant to the described topic.

Dr. Kannan RR Rengasamy
Dr. Suowen Xu
Prof. Dr. Chang-Yun Wang
Guest Editors

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

  • atherosclerosis
  • enzyme inhibitors
  • type 2 diabetes
  • marine natural products
  • lipid-lowering
  • hypertension
  • microbial cardiac infections

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 3557 KiB  
Article
Enzyme-Aided Extraction of Fucoidan by AMG Augments the Functionality of EPCs through Regulation of the AKT/Rheb Signaling Pathway
by Vinoth Kumar Rethineswaran, Yeon-Ju Kim, Woong Bi Jang, Seung Taek Ji, Songhwa Kang, Da Yeon Kim, Ji Hye Park, Le Thi Hong Van, Ly Thanh Truong Giang, Jong Seong Ha, Jisoo Yun, Dong Hyung Lee, Sun-Nyoung Yu, Sul-Gi Park, Soon-Cheol Ahn and Sang-Mo Kwon
Mar. Drugs 2019, 17(7), 392; https://doi.org/10.3390/md17070392 - 3 Jul 2019
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4135
Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to improve the endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) activation, proliferation, and angiogenesis using enzyme-aided extraction of fucoidan by amyloglucosidase (EAEF-AMG). Enzyme-aided extraction of fucoidan by AMG (EAEF-AMG) significantly increased EPC proliferation by reducing the reactive oxygen species [...] Read more.
The purpose of the present study is to improve the endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) activation, proliferation, and angiogenesis using enzyme-aided extraction of fucoidan by amyloglucosidase (EAEF-AMG). Enzyme-aided extraction of fucoidan by AMG (EAEF-AMG) significantly increased EPC proliferation by reducing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and decreasing apoptosis. Notably, EAEF-AMG treated EPCs repressed the colocalization of TSC2/LAMP1 and promoted perinuclear localization of mTOR/LAMP1 and mTOR/Rheb. Moreover, EAEF-AMG enhanced EPC functionalities, including tube formation, cell migration, and wound healing via regulation of AKT/Rheb signaling. Our data provided cell priming protocols to enhance therapeutic applications of EPCs using bioactive compounds for the treatment of CVD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Natural Products and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention)
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15 pages, 2564 KiB  
Article
Zeaxanthin Isolated from Dunaliella salina Microalgae Ameliorates Age Associated Cardiac Dysfunction in Rats through Stimulation of Retinoid Receptors
by Farouk Kamel El-Baz, Rehab Ali Hussein, Dalia Osama Saleh and Gehad Abdel Raheem Abdel Jaleel
Mar. Drugs 2019, 17(5), 290; https://doi.org/10.3390/md17050290 - 14 May 2019
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 4391
Abstract
Retinoids are essential during early cardiovascular morphogenesis. However, recent studies showed their important role in cardiac remodeling in rats with hypertension and following myocardial infarction. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of zeaxanthin heneicosylate (ZH); a carotenoid ester isolated from Dunaliella [...] Read more.
Retinoids are essential during early cardiovascular morphogenesis. However, recent studies showed their important role in cardiac remodeling in rats with hypertension and following myocardial infarction. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of zeaxanthin heneicosylate (ZH); a carotenoid ester isolated from Dunaliella salina microalgae, on cardiac dysfunction ensuing d-galactose injection in rats. Rats injected with d-GAL (200 mg/kg; I.P) for 8 weeks were orally treated with ZH (250 μg/kg) for 28 consecutive days. Results showed that d-GAL injection caused dramatic electrocardiographic changes as well as marked elevation in serum levels of homocysteine, creatinine kinase isoenzyme and lactate dehydrogenase. A reduction in the cardiac contents of glucose transporter-4 and superoxide dismutase along with the elevation of inducible nitric oxide synthetase and interleukin-6 was also noticed. Oral administration of ZH significantly improved the above mentioned cardiac aging manifestations; this was further emphasized through histopathological examinations. The effect of ZH is mediated through the interaction with retinoid receptor alpha (RAR-α) as evidenced through a significant elevation of RAR-α expression in cardiac tissue following the lead of an in silico molecular docking study. In conclusion, zeaxanthin heneicosylate isolated from D. salina ameliorated age-associated cardiac dysfunction in rats through the activation of retinoid receptors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Natural Products and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention)
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