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Functional Compounds from Microorganisms: Isolation, Characterization and Properties

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 2147

Special Issue Editors

Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
Interests: biotechnology; microbiology; fermentation chemistry; health food; food chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
1. Department of Life Science, National Taitung University, Taitung, Taiwan
2. Center Chairman of East Taiwan Bio-Economic Center, National Taitung University, Taitung, Taiwan
Interests: functional food; fermentation biotechnology; functional compounds; nature products; cardiovascular disease; liver protection; diabetes; Alzheimer’s disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products are produced from natural sources such as plants, animals, microbes and minerals. Over the past decade, they have played an important role in drug discovery and development. However, the natural products currently studied are mainly derived from plants and animals , whereas the discovery of bioactive natural products with new carbon skeletons has been limited. There is a great need to discover new natural products. It is well-known that microorganisms are a source of a vast array of natural products, and new microorganisms are continuously being discovered and are easy to cultivate. They can also produce a variety of functionally rich secondary metabolites. Microorganisms have become an important reservoir for drug discovery due to their distinctive biological properties.

This Special Issue, "Functional Compounds from Microorganisms: Isolation, Characterization and Properties", aims to introduce new advances in the discovery, analysis, characterization and bioactivities of natural products from microorganisms. Original research articles and reviews of the current knowledge in the field are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Tzu-Ming Pan
Prof. Dr. Chun-Lin Lee
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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

  • bacteria
  • fungi
  • mold
  • virus
  • function
  • isolation
  • purification
  • identification

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3803 KiB  
Article
Resistomycin Suppresses Prostate Cancer Cell Growth by Instigating Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial Apoptosis, and Cell Cycle Arrest
by Abeer S. Aloufi, Ola A. Habotta, Mohamed S. Abdelfattah, Marina N. Habib, Mohamed M. Omran, Sally A. Ali, Ahmed E. Abdel Moneim, Shereen M. Korany and Aisha M. Alrajhi
Molecules 2023, 28(23), 7871; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28237871 - 30 Nov 2023
Viewed by 972
Abstract
Globally, prostate cancer is among the most threatening and leading causes of death in men. This study, therefore, aimed to search for an ideal antitumor strategy with high efficacy, low drug resistance, and no or few adverse effects. Resistomycin is a natural antibiotic [...] Read more.
Globally, prostate cancer is among the most threatening and leading causes of death in men. This study, therefore, aimed to search for an ideal antitumor strategy with high efficacy, low drug resistance, and no or few adverse effects. Resistomycin is a natural antibiotic derived from marine actinomycetes, and it possesses various biological activities. Prostate cancer cells (PC3) were treated with resistomycin (IC12.5: 0.65 or IC25: 1.3 µg/mL) or 5-fluorouracil (5-FU; IC25: 7 µg/mL) for 24 h. MTT assay and flow cytometry were utilized to assess cell viability and apoptosis. Oxidative stress, apoptotic-related markers, and cell cycle were also assessed. The results revealed that the IC50 of resistomycin and 5-FU on PC3 cells were 2.63 µg/mL and 14.44 µg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, treated cells with the high dose of resistomycin showed an increased number of apoptotic cells compared to those treated with the lower dose. Remarkable induction of reactive oxygen species generation and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage with high malondialdehyde (MDA), carbonyl protein (CP), and 8-hydroxyguanosine (8-OHdG) contents were observed in resistomycin-treated cells. In addition, marked declines in glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in PC3 cells subjected to resistomycin therapy were observed. Resistomycin triggered observable cell apoptosis by increasing Bax, caspase-3, and cytosolic cytochrome c levels and decreasing Bcl-2 levels. In addition, notable downregulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cyclin D1 was observed in resistomycin-treated cancerous cells. According to this evaluation, the antitumor potential of resistomycin, in a concentration-dependent manner, in prostate cancer cells was achieved by triggering oxidative stress, mitochondrial apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest in cancer cells. In conclusion, our investigation suggests that resistomycin can be considered a starting point for developing new chemotherapeutic agents for human prostate cancer. Full article
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13 pages, 2096 KiB  
Article
Exploring the Anti-Cancer Effects of Fish Bone Fermented Using Monascus purpureus: Induction of Apoptosis and Autophagy in Human Colorectal Cancer Cells
by Ya-Ting Chen, Shu-Jen Chen, Chun-Yi Hu, Cheng-Di Dong, Chiu-Wen Chen, Reeta Rani Singhania and Shu-Ling Hsieh
Molecules 2023, 28(15), 5679; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28155679 - 27 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 933
Abstract
Fish bone fermented using Monascus purpureus (FBF) has total phenols and functional amino acids that contribute to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Colorectal cancer, one of the most prevalent cancers and the third largest cause of death worldwide, has become a serious threat [...] Read more.
Fish bone fermented using Monascus purpureus (FBF) has total phenols and functional amino acids that contribute to its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Colorectal cancer, one of the most prevalent cancers and the third largest cause of death worldwide, has become a serious threat to global health. This study investigates the anti-cancer effects of FBF (1, 2.5 or 5 mg/mL) on the cell growth and molecular mechanism of HCT-116 cells. The HCT-116 cell treatment with 2.5 or 5 mg/mL of FBF for 24 h significantly decreased cell viability (p < 0.05). The S and G2/M phases significantly increased by 88–105% and 25–43%, respectively (p < 0.05). Additionally, FBF increased the mRNA expression of caspase 8 (38–77%), protein expression of caspase 3 (34–94%), poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) (31–34%) and induced apoptosis (236–773%) of HCT-116 cells (p < 0.05). FBF also increased microtubule-associated protein 1B light chain 3 (LC3) (38–48%) and phosphoinositide 3 kinase class III (PI3K III) (32–53%) protein expression, thereby inducing autophagy (26–52%) of HCT-116 cells (p < 0.05). These results showed that FBF could inhibit HCT-116 cell growth by inducing S and G2/M phase arrest of the cell cycle, apoptosis and autophagy. Thus, FBF has the potential to treat colorectal cancer. Full article
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