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Marine Drugs
Special Issues
Characterization of Structure-Activity Relationships in Marine Natural Products
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Characterization of Structure-Activity Relationships in Marine Natural Products

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Synthesis and Medicinal Chemistry of Marine Natural Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2024) | Viewed by 15049

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carmen Festa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy
Interests: organic synthesis; isolation and structural chemistry characterization; natural substances; spectroscopic and spectrometric techniques
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Simona De Marino

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II (USNF), 80131 Naples, Italy
Interests: drug discovery; natural products; organic chemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Marine natural products (MNPs) have always played an important role in the discovery of new, structurally unique, bioactive secondary metabolites. Their chemical diversity and their meticulous ability to bind specific targets make them ideal candidates for evolutionally optimized drug discovery projects.

To obtain a full and comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of action present at a molecular level, and to rationally design new and improved derivatives, it is essential to discern the structural requisites of the active compounds that interact with the biological target. Consequently, a profound characterization of specific structure-activity relationships (SARs) is necessary for the development of MNPs into drugs. Structural information can improve activity, potency, and selectivity, reduce toxicity, and offer drug-likeness properties.

This Special Issue is dedicated to collecting original research articles or reviews regarding MNPs, with emphasis on the discovery of natural or semi-synthetic derivatives that show interesting pharmacological activities.

Dr. Carmen Festa
Prof. Dr. Simona De Marino
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
  • structure-activity relationship
  • pharmacophore
  • drug discovery
  • biological profile
  • small molecules
  • nature-inspired compounds
  • organic synthesis
  • isolation and structural characterization
  • computational chemistry

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 2484 KiB  
Article
Diisoprenyl Cyclohexene-Type Meroterpenoids with Cytotoxic Activity from a Mangrove Endophytic Fungus Aspergillus sp. GXNU-Y85
by Feng Qin, Zi-Shuo Song, Li Luo, Xiang-Long Bo, Fu-Rong Wu, Mei-Jing Tan, Fan-Fan Wang, Xi-Shan Huang and Heng-Shan Wang
Mar. Drugs 2024, 22(2), 58; https://doi.org/10.3390/md22020058 - 24 Jan 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2020
Abstract
Five new diisoprenyl cyclohexene-type meroterpenoids, aspergienynes J–N (1–5), along with three known analogues (6–8), were obtained from the mangrove endophytic fungal strain Aspergillus sp. GXNU-Y85. The chemical structures, including their absolute configurations, were established via [...] Read more.
Five new diisoprenyl cyclohexene-type meroterpenoids, aspergienynes J–N (1–5), along with three known analogues (6–8), were obtained from the mangrove endophytic fungal strain Aspergillus sp. GXNU-Y85. The chemical structures, including their absolute configurations, were established via spectroscopic data and comparison of experimental and calculated ECD spectra. Cytotoxicity assay results indicated that compound 8 had strong cytotoxicity against HeLa cancer cells, and its IC50 value was 11.8 μM. In addition, flow cytometry analysis revealed that the cytotoxicity of 8 was due to the induction of G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in HeLa cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization of Structure-Activity Relationships in Marine Natural Products)
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13 pages, 3007 KiB  
Article
Rhabdastrellosides A and B: Two New Isomalabaricane Glycosides from the Marine Sponge Rhabdastrella globostellata, and Their Cytotoxic and Cytoprotective Effects
by Anastasia B. Kozhushnaya, Sophia A. Kolesnikova, Ekaterina A. Yurchenko, Ekaterina G. Lyakhova, Alexander S. Menshov, Anatoly I. Kalinovsky, Roman S. Popov, Pavel S. Dmitrenok and Natalia V. Ivanchina
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(11), 554; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21110554 - 25 Oct 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2020
Abstract
Investigation of the Vietnamese marine sponge Rhabdastrella globostellata led to the isolation of two new polar isomalabaricanes: rhabdastrellosides A (1) and B (2). Their structures and stereochemistry were elucidated with the application of 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS, and [...] Read more.
Investigation of the Vietnamese marine sponge Rhabdastrella globostellata led to the isolation of two new polar isomalabaricanes: rhabdastrellosides A (1) and B (2). Their structures and stereochemistry were elucidated with the application of 1D and 2D NMR, HRESIMS, and HRESIMS/MS methods, as well as chemical modifications and GC–MS analysis. Metabolites 1 and 2 are the first isomalabaricanes with non-oxidized cyclopentane ring in the tricyclic core system. Moreover, having a 3-O-disaccharide moiety in their structures, they increase a very rare group of isomalabaricane glycosides. We report here a weak cytotoxicity of 1 and 2 toward human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and normal rat H9c2 cardiomyocytes, as well as the cytoprotective activity of rhabdastrelloside B (2) at 1 µM evaluated using CoCl2-treated SH-SY5Y and H9c2 cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization of Structure-Activity Relationships in Marine Natural Products)
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Review

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17 pages, 3573 KiB  
Review
Theonella: A Treasure Trove of Structurally Unique and Biologically Active Sterols
by Carmen Festa, Simona De Marino, Angela Zampella and Stefano Fiorucci
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(5), 291; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21050291 - 8 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2290
Abstract
The marine environment is considered a vast source in the discovery of structurally unique bioactive secondary metabolites. Among marine invertebrates, the sponge Theonella spp. represents an arsenal of novel compounds ranging from peptides, alkaloids, terpenes, macrolides, and sterols. In this review, we summarize [...] Read more.
The marine environment is considered a vast source in the discovery of structurally unique bioactive secondary metabolites. Among marine invertebrates, the sponge Theonella spp. represents an arsenal of novel compounds ranging from peptides, alkaloids, terpenes, macrolides, and sterols. In this review, we summarize the recent reports on sterols isolated from this amazing sponge, describing their structural features and peculiar biological activities. We also discuss the total syntheses of solomonsterols A and B and the medicinal chemistry modifications on theonellasterol and conicasterol, focusing on the effect of chemical transformations on the biological activity of this class of metabolites. The promising compounds identified from Theonella spp. possess pronounced biological activity on nuclear receptors or cytotoxicity and result in promising candidates for extended preclinical evaluations. The identification of naturally occurring and semisynthetic marine bioactive sterols reaffirms the utility of examining natural product libraries for the discovery of new therapeutical approach to human diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization of Structure-Activity Relationships in Marine Natural Products)
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22 pages, 3422 KiB  
Review
Marine Macrolides to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
by Sukamto S. Mamada, Firzan Nainu, Ayu Masyita, Andri Frediansyah, Rifka Nurul Utami, Mirnawati Salampe, Talha Bin Emran, Clara Mariana Gonçalves Lima, Hitesh Chopra and Jesus Simal-Gandara
Mar. Drugs 2022, 20(11), 691; https://doi.org/10.3390/md20110691 - 1 Nov 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5730
Abstract
Tuberculosis has become a major health problem globally. This is worsened by the emergence of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis showing ability to evade the effectiveness of the current antimycobacterial therapies. Therefore, the efforts carried out to explore new entities from many sources, [...] Read more.
Tuberculosis has become a major health problem globally. This is worsened by the emergence of resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis showing ability to evade the effectiveness of the current antimycobacterial therapies. Therefore, the efforts carried out to explore new entities from many sources, including marine, are critical. This review summarizes several marine-derived macrolides that show promising activity against M. tuberculosis. We also provide information regarding the biosynthetic processes of marine macrolides, including the challenges that are usually experienced in this process. As most of the studies reporting the antimycobacterial activities of the listed marine macrolides are based on in vitro studies, the future direction should consider expanding the trials to in vivo and clinical trials. In addition, in silico studies should also be explored for a quick screening on marine macrolides with potent activities against mycobacterial infection. To sum up, macrolides derived from marine organisms might become therapeutical options for tackling antimycobacterial resistance of M. tuberculosis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization of Structure-Activity Relationships in Marine Natural Products)
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Other

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18 pages, 5085 KiB  
Perspective
Unifying the Synthesis of a Whole Family of Marine Meroterpenoids through a Biosynthetically Inspired Sequence of 1,2-Hydride and Methyl Shifts as Key Step
by Antonio Rosales Martínez, Román Nicolay Rodríguez-Maecker and Ignacio Rodríguez-García
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(2), 118; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21020118 - 10 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1857
Abstract
Marine meroterpenoids have attracted a great deal of attention from synthetic research groups due to their attractive and varied biological activities and their unique and diverse structures. In most cases, however, further biological studies have been severely limited mainly to the scarcity of [...] Read more.
Marine meroterpenoids have attracted a great deal of attention from synthetic research groups due to their attractive and varied biological activities and their unique and diverse structures. In most cases, however, further biological studies have been severely limited mainly to the scarcity of natural supply and because almost none of the reported syntheses methods has enabled unified access for a large number of marine meroterpenoids with aureane and avarane skeletons. Based on our previous publications and the study of recent manuscripts on marine meroterpenoids, we have conceived a unified strategy for these fascinating marine compounds with aureane or avarane skeletons using available drimane compounds as starting materials. The key step is a biosynthetic sequence of 1,2-hydride and methyl shifts. This strategy is of great synthetic value to access marine meroterpenoids through easy chemical synthetic procedures. Finally, several retrosynthetic proposals are made for the future synthesis of several members of this class of meroterpenoids, focused on consolidating these 1,2-rearrangements as a versatile and unified strategy that could be widely used in the preparation of these marine meroterpenoids. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization of Structure-Activity Relationships in Marine Natural Products)
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