Development and Application of Marine-Sourced Anti-Cancer and Cancer Pain Control Agents II

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 14893

Special Issue Editors


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Dipartimento di Chimica e Tecnologie del Farmaco, Sapienza Universita’ di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: anticancer agents; anti-infective agents; heterocyclic chemistry; small molecules; microwave-assisted organic chemistry and extraction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Drug Chemistry and Technologies, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy
Interests: phospholipid and non-phospholipid vesicles as drug delivery systems (soft nanocarriers); nanoemulsions; nanobubbles; anticancer drug delivery; anti-infective drug delivery; natural compound and drug delivery; nanomedicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The marine habitat is an unlimited source of bioactive molecules with unique chemical structures. Among these, compounds endowed with anticancer activity are of particular interest, because cancer remains one of the most challenging problems for human health. In addition, people with cancer commonly suffer from pain, whose pharmacological treatment is often associated with several side effects. Although cancer and pain therapies have considerably improved in the last few decades, there is an urgent need to identify new bioactive compounds in order to obtain more efficacious and safe drugs for people living with cancer and cancer-related pain.

For this Special Issue, “Development and Application of Marine-Sourced Anticancer and Cancer Pain Control Agents”, we invite scientists from both academia and industry to publish their recent results on new anticancer and cancer pain control agents of marine origin. The Issue will cover all aspects of chemical and pharmaceutical relevance, such as the extraction, identification, structure elucidation, total synthesis, structure–activity relationships, molecular modelling simulation, and pharmacological and pharmacokinetic characterization of marine compounds.

Dr. Giuseppe La Regina
Dr. Federica Rinaldi
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Cancer
  • Pain
  • Marine bioactive compounds
  • Drugs
  • Human health.

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 4511 KiB  
Article
Combination of Fish Oil and Selenium Enhances Anticancer Efficacy and Targets Multiple Signaling Pathways in Anti-VEGF Agent Treated-TNBC Tumor-Bearing Mice
by Chih-Hung Guo, Simon Hsia, Chieh-Han Chung, Yi-Chun Lin, Min-Yi Shih, Pei-Chung Chen, Guoo-Shyng W. Hsu, Ciou-Ting Fan and Chia-Lin Peng
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(4), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19040193 - 29 Mar 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3843
Abstract
Fish oil (FO) and selenium (Se) possess antiangiogenic potential in malignant tumors. This study aimed to determine whether combination of FO and Se enhanced treatment efficacy of low-dose antiangiogenic agent Avastin (bevacizumab) in a dose-dependent manner and targeted multiple signaling pathways in triple-negative [...] Read more.
Fish oil (FO) and selenium (Se) possess antiangiogenic potential in malignant tumors. This study aimed to determine whether combination of FO and Se enhanced treatment efficacy of low-dose antiangiogenic agent Avastin (bevacizumab) in a dose-dependent manner and targeted multiple signaling pathways in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)-bearing mice. Randomized into five groups, mice received treatment with either physiological saline (control), Avastin alone, or Avastin in combination with low, medium, and high doses of FO/Se. The target signaling molecules for anticancer were determined either by measuring protein or mRNA expression. Avastin-treated mice receiving FO/Se showed lower tumor growth and metastasis than did mice treated with Avastin alone. Combination-treated mice exhibited lower expressions in multiple proangiogenic (growth) factors and their membrane receptors, and altered cytoplasmic signaling molecules (PI3K-PTEN-AKT-TSC-mTOR-p70S6K-4EBP1, Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK, c-Src-JAK2-STAT3-TMEPAI-Smad, LKB1-AMPK, and GSK3β/β-catenin). Dose-dependent inhibition of down-stream targets including epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition transcription factors, nuclear cyclin and cyclin-dependent kinases, cancer stem cell markers, heat shock protein (HSP-90), hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF-1α/-2α), matrix metalloprotease (MMP-9), and increased apoptosis were observed. These results suggest that combination treatment with FO and Se increases the therapeutic efficacy of Avastin against TNBC in a dose-dependent manner through multiple signaling pathways in membrane, cytoplasmic, and nucleic targets. Full article
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Review

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18 pages, 4636 KiB  
Review
Secondary Metabolites from Marine-Derived Fungi and Actinobacteria as Potential Sources of Novel Colorectal Cancer Drugs
by Elin Julianti, Ikram Ammar Abrian, Marlia Singgih Wibowo, Muhammad Azhari, Nadya Tsurayya, Fauzia Izzati, Ario Betha Juanssilfero, Asep Bayu, Siti Irma Rahmawati and Masteria Yunovilsa Putra
Mar. Drugs 2022, 20(1), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/md20010067 - 12 Jan 2022
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5289
Abstract
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers diagnosed in the world. Chemotheraphy is one of the most common methods used for the pharmacological treatment of this cancer patients. Nevertheless, the adverse effect of chemotherapy is not optimized for improving the quality [...] Read more.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers diagnosed in the world. Chemotheraphy is one of the most common methods used for the pharmacological treatment of this cancer patients. Nevertheless, the adverse effect of chemotherapy is not optimized for improving the quality of life of people who are older, who are the most vulnerable subpopulation. This review presents recent updates regarding secondary metabolites derived from marine fungi and actinobacteria as novel alternatives for cytotoxic agents against colorectal cancer cell lines HCT116, HT29, HCT15, RKO, Caco-2, and SW480. The observed marine-derived fungi were from the species Aspergillus sp., Penicillium sp., Neosartorya sp., Dichotomomyces sp., Paradendryphiella sp., and Westerdykella sp. Additionally, Streptomyces sp. and Nocardiopsis sp. are actinobacteria discussed in this study. Seventy one compounds reviewed in this study were grouped on the basis of their chemical structures. Indole alkaloids and diketopiperazines made up most compounds with higher potencies when compared with other groups. The potency of indole alkaloids and diketopiperazines was most probably due to halogen-based functional groups and sulfide groups, respectively. Full article
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26 pages, 1294 KiB  
Review
Development of Marine-Derived Compounds for Cancer Therapy
by Weimin Zuo and Hang Fai Kwok
Mar. Drugs 2021, 19(6), 342; https://doi.org/10.3390/md19060342 - 15 Jun 2021
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 5059
Abstract
Cancer has always been a threat to human health with its high morbidity and mortality rates. Traditional therapy, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, plays a key role in cancer treatment. However, it is not able to prevent tumor recurrence, drug resistance and treatment [...] Read more.
Cancer has always been a threat to human health with its high morbidity and mortality rates. Traditional therapy, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, plays a key role in cancer treatment. However, it is not able to prevent tumor recurrence, drug resistance and treatment side effects, which makes it a very attractive challenge to search for new effective and specific anticancer drugs. Nature is a valuable source of multiple pharmaceuticals, and most of the anticancer drugs are natural products or derived from them. Marine-derived compounds, such as nucleotides, proteins, peptides and amides, have also shed light on cancer therapy, and they are receiving a fast-growing interest due to their bioactive properties. Their mechanisms contain anti-angiogenic, anti-proliferative and anti-metastasis activities; cell cycle arrest; and induction of apoptosis. This review provides an overview on the development of marine-derived compounds with anticancer properties, both their applications and mechanisms, and discovered technologies. Full article
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