Mechanisms Underlying Metabolic Regulation by Marine Toxins
A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine and Freshwater Toxins".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2025) | Viewed by 1688
Special Issue Editor
Interests: chemical and molecular ecology of protists; genetics of toxin biosynthesis; toxinology and ecotoxicology of harmful microalgae; harmful algal blooms and marine food webs; marine phycotoxin dynamics and diversity; marine microbial biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Marine toxins are broadly defined as natural products with potent deleterious bioactivity against molecular targets in a host of marine and terrestrial species. These compounds are synthesized by and/or accumulated in the marine food web, often manifesting as seafood toxins or causing morbidity and mortality to marine fauna. Typical marine toxins are small molecules (<3000 Daltons) that belong to diverse structural classes such as alkaloids, secondary amino acids or polyether polyketides, or comprise specialized peptide/proteinaceous molecules. Their potency as toxins is usually defined with respect to mammalian targets, and this may tend to obscure their ecological function in chemical communication, defense against predation, competition, and transitions in the marine environment. Marine toxins continue to be carefully scrutinized in the search for pharmaceuticals, e.g., as analgesics against acute and chronic pain, anti-microbials (e.g., bacteria, fungi, microeukaryotes, and viruses), anti-cancer/anti-proliferative agents, and as neuropharmaceuticals. These discoveries are dependent upon obtaining more detailed knowledge of their role as enzyme inhibitors, cell cycle blockers, membrane disruptors, and ion channel effectors. Most of the chemical structures are well defined, and in a few cases, the biosynthetic pathways have been elucidated. The knowledge of the molecular, genetic regulation of toxin biosynthesis in producing species and the metabolic response of the target cells, tissues, and whole organisms cannot define the functional role of putative toxins. This Special Issue will focus on these mechanisms in natural species interactions, cell and whole-animal assays, and electrophysiology studies. Contributions leading to further insights in metabolomics and subsequent molecular modelling of the mode(s) of action of marine toxins are particularly welcome.
Prof. Dr. Allan Cembella
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- chemical ecology
- marine toxin
- ecotoxicology
- phycotoxins
- marine bioactives
- toxin biosynthesis
- metabolic regulation
- toxin mode of action
- toxin modelling
- metabolomics
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