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Marine Drugs
Special Issues
Marine Natural Products and Signaling Pathways, 2nd Edition
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Marine Natural Products and Signaling Pathways, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2025 | Viewed by 2246

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Haifeng Wang

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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Structure-Based Drug Design & Discovery of Education, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, China
Interests: marine natural products; antitumor; sponge; fungi; signaling pathway
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ling Liu

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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: fungal secondary metabolites; marine natural products; drug discovery; genome mining; biosynthesis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Marine natural products, as the bioactive products of secondary metabolites, including enzymes, lipids, and heteropolysaccharides, have played a crucial role in the discovery of novel lead compounds. The characteristics of having abundant water, high salinity, high pressure, low temperature, flow, and complexity in the marine environment make the structural configurations of marine natural products more diverse, unique, and novel. Marine natural products possess unique regulatory mechanisms for combating different diseases, including apoptosis, autophagy, the Hippo signaling pathway, Jak STAT, and the mTOR signaling pathway.

This Special Issue mainly focuses on the relationship between various natural products derived from marine sources and disease-related signaling pathways. It encourages authors to contribute studies addressing new pathways for known components or of pathways for the discovery of novel molecules. Research articles and reviews that combine the above conditions are welcome.

Dr. Haifeng Wang
Dr. Ling Liu
Guest Editors

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

  • marine natural products
  • signaling pathways
  • active molecules
  • novel molecular skeleton
  • regulation mechanism
  • omics

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1730 KiB  
Article
Bioassay-Guided Procedure Coupled with HR-ESIMS Dereplication for Isolation of Antiproliferative Bromo-Tyramine Derivative from Aplysina cauliformis
by Germana Esposito, Maria Ponticelli, Luigi Milella, Ludovica Lela, Roberta Teta, Joseph R. Pawlik, Daniela Russo and Valeria Costantino
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(5), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23050187 - 27 Apr 2025
Viewed by 406
Abstract
The marine environment is vital for sustaining life on Earth and offers a significant, untapped source of bioresources that could enhance the blue economy. The present investigation used our protocol to quickly identify bioactive molecules in Aplysina cauliformis organic extracts. This procedure combines [...] Read more.
The marine environment is vital for sustaining life on Earth and offers a significant, untapped source of bioresources that could enhance the blue economy. The present investigation used our protocol to quickly identify bioactive molecules in Aplysina cauliformis organic extracts. This procedure combines a bioassay-guided approach with the dereplication of mass data through bioinformatic analysis. This approach identified the compound N,N,N-trimethyl-3,5-dibromotyramine, a bromo-tyramine analog that showed promising antiproliferative activity on HepG2 cell lines, with an IC50 value of 37.49 ± 1.94 μg/mL after 24 h. Furthermore, the evaluation of related gene expression confirmed the mechanism of cell death to be apoptosis. N,N,N-trimethyl-3,5-dibromotyramine increased the expression of pro-apoptotic β-cell lymphoma 2-associated X protein (BAX) and Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP-1) cleavage (c-PARP-1) and downregulated the anti-apoptotic β-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) and phospho-Akt (p-AKT). This report presents N,N,N-trimethyl-3,5-dibromotyramine from Aplysina cauliformis and its antiproliferative activity against the HepG2 cell line. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Natural Products and Signaling Pathways, 2nd Edition)
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15 pages, 3276 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Digestion and Gut Microbiota Fermentation of the Anticancer Marine Drug BG136: Stability and Biotransformation Investigation
by Xintong Li, Shuying Xu, Baiyuan Chen, Pengcheng Gao, Youjing Lv, Qingsen Shang, Guangli Yu and Guoyun Li
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(4), 156; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23040156 - 3 Apr 2025
Viewed by 535
Abstract
BG136, a β-1,3/1,6-glucan derived from Durvillaea antarctica, is an injectable anticancer drug and has entered Phase II clinical trials. Rational oral formulation design is a pivotal focus for our future drug development research; therefore, elucidating the gastrointestinal fate of BG136 becomes imperative. [...] Read more.
BG136, a β-1,3/1,6-glucan derived from Durvillaea antarctica, is an injectable anticancer drug and has entered Phase II clinical trials. Rational oral formulation design is a pivotal focus for our future drug development research; therefore, elucidating the gastrointestinal fate of BG136 becomes imperative. This study investigated the stability and biotransformation of BG136 via in vitro digestion and gut microbiota fermentation. The results confirmed BG136’s structural integrity, resistance to degradation in a highly acid environment and by gastrointestinal tract enzymes. In contrast, BG136 was degraded by intestinal bacteria into mid-size fragments along with smaller oligosaccharides. Additionally, the biotransformation process notably elevated total short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) to 38.37 ± 3.29 mM, representing a 59.4% increase versus controls (24.08 ± 2.29 mM), with propionic acid exhibiting the most substantial increase. Meanwhile, the process was accompanied by significant microbial regulation, including an increase in beneficial genera (Lactobacillus, Enterococcus) and a reduction in Lachnoclostridium populations. Overall, these findings systematically map the oral bioavailability challenges and prebiotic potential of BG136, highlighting its microbiota-modulating capacity through species-specific ecological regulation, providing insights into oral drug development for BG136. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Natural Products and Signaling Pathways, 2nd Edition)
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14 pages, 2574 KiB  
Article
Protective Effects of Chitosan Oligosaccharide Against Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Inflammatory Response and Oxidative Stress in Bovine Mammary Epithelial Cells
by Ziwei Lin, Yanlong Zhou, Ruiwen Chen, Qiuyan Tao, Qiwen Lu, Qianchao Xu, Haibin Yu, Ping Jiang and Zhihui Zhao
Mar. Drugs 2025, 23(1), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/md23010031 - 9 Jan 2025
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 882
Abstract
Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) is receiving increasing attention as a feed additive in animal production. COS has a variety of biological functions, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Mastitis is a major disease in dairy cows that has a significant impact on animal welfare and [...] Read more.
Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) is receiving increasing attention as a feed additive in animal production. COS has a variety of biological functions, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Mastitis is a major disease in dairy cows that has a significant impact on animal welfare and production. Hence, this research aimed to investigate the mechanism of COS on the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated inflammatory response and oxidative stress in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMECs). In this study, the results demonstrated that COS protected BMECs from the inflammatory response induced by LPS by restraining the excessive production of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). COS treatment also suppressed excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and restored antioxidant enzyme activity under LPS-induced oxidative stress conditions. Furthermore, the results also demonstrated that COS promote nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) expression and inhibit TLR4 levels and p65 and IκBα phosphorylation in BMECs exposed to LPS. In summary, the results demonstrate that the protective mechanism of COS on the LPS-induced inflammatory response and oxidative stress depend on the TLR4/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and Nrf2 signaling pathways, indicating that COS could serve as natural protective agents for alleviating BMECs in mastitis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Marine Natural Products and Signaling Pathways, 2nd Edition)
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