Cytotoxic Alkaloids Derived from Marine Sponges: A Comprehensive Review

Marine sponges (porifera) have proved to be a prolific source of unique bioactive secondary metabolites, among which the alkaloids occupy a special place in terms of unprecedented structures and outstanding biological activities. Identification of active cytotoxic alkaloids extracted from marine animals, particularly sponges, is an important strive, due to lack of knowledge on traditional experiential and ethnopharmacology investigations. In this report, a comprehensive survey of demospongian bioactive alkaloids in the range 1987–2020 had been performed with a special emphasis on the potent cytotoxic activity. Different resources and databases had been investigated, including Scifinder (database for the chemical literature) CAS (Chemical Abstract Service) search, web of science, Marin Lit (marine natural products research) database. More than 230 representatives of different classes of alkaloids had been reviewed and classified, different genera belonging to the phylum porifera had been shown to be a prolific source of alkaloidal molecules, including Agelas sp., Suberea sp., Mycale sp., Haliclona sp., Epipolasis sp., Monanchora sp., Crambe sp., Reniera sp., and Xestospongia sp., among others. The sufficient production of alkaloids derived from sponges is a prosperous approach that requires more attention in future studies to consider the constraints regarding the supply of drugs, attained from marine organisms.

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Silene conoidea L.: A Review on its Systematic, Ethnobotany and Phytochemical profile

Plant Science Today ◽

10.14719/pst.2019.6.4.571 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 373-382 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Fazal Ullah ◽

Asma Ayaz ◽

Saddam Saqib ◽

Wajid Zaman ◽

Maryam Akram Butt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Research Study ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Future Research ◽

Phytochemical Analysis ◽

Future Studies ◽

Clinical Trial Research ◽

Phytochemical Profile ◽

Western Eurasia ◽

Different Sources

Silene conoidea L. is a weed commonly grown in subtropical and temperate zone of western Eurasia, and some part of Himalaya. S. conoidea is a small herb height from 20 to 40cm mostly grow as weed in different crops like wheat, barley, mustard, roquette and lentil pea. This is the first attempt to gather utmost information about the species distribution, taxonomy, ethno-medicines, phytochemical analysis, biological activity etc. of Silene conoidea. The present review aim was to collect fragmented information about the species in addition to explore its therapeutic importance in future research opportunities. A total of 100 research articles were reviewed using different sources like; Scopus, web of science, Science direct, google scholar and PubMed. The species are used as multipurpose in different biological activities against microbes, bacteria and as insecticidal. Silene is also important due to high contents of various chemicals compounds. Chemical extracts contain flavones, glycosides, saponins, sterols and glycosides. A research study shows that S. conoidea can be used as an indicator species of gold. Traditional therapeutic values of the species for treating respiratory, antioxidant, anti-diabetic and anticancer are needed to be validated through more research. Ethno-pharmacological and clinical trial research can be subjected for future studies.

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Structural and Bioactive Studies of Halogenated Constituents from Sponges

Current Medicinal Chemistry ◽

10.2174/0929867325666181112092159 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (14) ◽

pp. 2335-2360 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Chao Li ◽

Dayong Shi

Keyword(s):

Microbial Communities ◽

Organic Compounds ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Marine Sponges ◽

Nitrogen Compounds ◽

Halogenated Organic Compounds ◽

Bioactive Natural Products ◽

The Past ◽

Tyrosine Derivatives ◽

Polyunsaturated Lipids

: Marine organisms are abundant sources of bioactive natural products. Among metabolites produced by sponges and their associated microbial communities, halogenated natural compounds accounted for an important part due to their potent biological activities. The present review updates and compiles a total of 258 halogenated organic compounds isolated in the past three decades, especially brominated derivatives derived from 31 genera of marine sponges. These compounds can be classified as the following classes: brominated polyunsaturated lipids, nitrogen compounds, brominated tyrosine derivatives and other halogenated compounds. These substances were listed together with their source organisms, structures and bioactivities. For this purpose, 84 references were consulted.

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Bioactive Secondary Metabolites from Endophytic Fungi

Current Medicinal Chemistry ◽

10.2174/0929867326666190916144709 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 27 (11) ◽

pp. 1836-1854 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Elena Ancheeva ◽

Georgios Daletos ◽

Peter Proksch

Keyword(s):

Secondary Metabolites ◽

Endophytic Fungi ◽

Host Plants ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Cytotoxic Agents ◽

Special Focus ◽

Plant Metabolites ◽

Direct Production ◽

Bioactive Secondary Metabolites ◽

Fungal Genes

Background: Endophytes represent a complex community of microorganisms colonizing asymptomatically internal tissues of higher plants. Several reports have shown that endophytes enhance the fitness of their host plants by direct production of bioactive secondary metabolites, which are involved in protecting the host against herbivores and pathogenic microbes. In addition, it is increasingly apparent that endophytes are able to biosynthesize medicinally important “phytochemicals”, originally believed to be produced only by their host plants. Objective: The present review provides an overview of secondary metabolites from endophytic fungi with pronounced biological activities covering the literature between 2010 and 2017. Special focus is given on studies aiming at exploration of the mode of action of these metabolites towards the discovery of leads from endophytic fungi. Moreover, this review critically evaluates the potential of endophytic fungi as alternative sources of bioactive “plant metabolites”. Results: Over the past few years, several promising lead structures from endophytic fungi have been described in the literature. In this review, 65 metabolites are outlined with pronounced biological activities, primarily as antimicrobial and cytotoxic agents. Some of these metabolites have shown to be highly selective or to possess novel mechanisms of action, which hold great promises as potential drug candidates. Conclusion: Endophytes represent an inexhaustible reservoir of pharmacologically important compounds. Moreover, endophytic fungi could be exploited for the sustainable production of bioactive “plant metabolites” in the future. Towards this aim, further insights into the dynamic endophyte - host plant interactions and origin of endophytic fungal genes would be of utmost importance.

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Thymol Chemistry: A Medicinal Toolbox

Current Bioactive Compounds ◽

10.2174/1573407214666180503120222 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (5) ◽

pp. 454-474 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Jyoti ◽

Divya Dheer ◽

Davinder Singh ◽

Gulshan Kumar ◽

Manvika Karnatak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Web Of Science ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Controlled Clinical Trials ◽

Food Preservative ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Therapeutic Benefits ◽

Trachyspermum Ammi ◽

Randomised Controlled ◽

Human Infections ◽

Potential Use

Background: Thymol is a natural phenolic monoterpenoid widely used in pharmaceutical and food preservative applications. Thymol isomeric with carvacrol, extracted primarily from Thymus species (Trachyspermum ammi) and other plants sources such as Baccharisgrise bachii and Centipeda minima, has ethnopharmacological characteristics. Methods: This review was prepared by analyzing articles published on thymol moiety in last decade and selected from Science Direct, Scopus, Pub Med, Web of Science and SciFinder. The selected articles are classified and gives brief introduction about thymol and its isolation, illustrates its natural as well as synthetic sources, and also therapeutic benefits of thymol worldwide Results: Thymol has been covering different endeavors such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, antidiarrhoeal, anthelmintic, analgesic, digestive, abortifacient, antihypertensive, spermicidal, depigmenting, antileishmanial, anticholinesterase, insecticidal and many others. This phenolic compound is among the essential scaffolds for medicinal chemists to synthesize more bio-active molecules by further derivatization of the thymol moiety. Conclusion: Thymol is an interesting scaffold due to its different activities and derivatization of thymol is proved to enhance its biological activities. However, more robust, randomised, controlled clinical trials would be desirable with well-characterised thymol preparations to corroborate its beneficial effects in diseased patients. Moreover, in view of the potential use of thymol and thymol-rich essential oils in the treatment of human infections, comprehensive studies on chronic and acute toxicity and also teratogenicity are to be recommended.

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Natural Products from Tongan Marine Organisms

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26154534 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (15) ◽

pp. 4534

Author(s):

Taitusi Taufa ◽

Ramesh Subramani ◽

Peter Northcote ◽

Robert Keyzers

Keyword(s):

Natural Products ◽

Pacific Ocean ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Marine Sponges ◽

Marine Organisms ◽

Biologically Active ◽

Geographic Variability ◽

South Pacific Ocean ◽

New Novel ◽

Rich Diversity

The islands of the South Pacific Ocean have been in the limelight for natural product biodiscovery, due to their unique and pristine tropical waters and environment. The Kingdom of Tonga is an archipelago in the central Indo-Pacific Ocean, consisting of 176 islands, 36 of which are inhabited, flourishing with a rich diversity of flora and fauna. Many unique natural products with interesting bioactivities have been reported from Indo-Pacific marine sponges and other invertebrate phyla; however, there have not been any reviews published to date specifically regarding natural products from Tongan marine organisms. This review covers both known and new/novel Marine Natural Products (MNPs) and their biological activities reported from organisms collected within Tongan territorial waters up to December 2020, and includes 109 MNPs in total, the majority from the phylum Porifera. The significant biological activity of these metabolites was dominated by cytotoxicity and, by reviewing these natural products, it is apparent that the bulk of the new and interesting biologically active compounds were from organisms collected from one particular island, emphasizing the geographic variability in the chemistry between these organisms collected at different locations.

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Blockchain Applications in Agribusiness: A Systematic Review

Future Internet ◽

10.3390/fi13040095 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 95

Author(s):

Geneci da Silva Ribeiro Rocha ◽

Letícia de Oliveira ◽

Edson Talamini

Keyword(s):

Complex System ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Scientific Literature ◽

Early Stage ◽

Technological Development ◽

Economic Sectors ◽

Future Studies ◽

Blockchain Technology ◽

Near Future

Blockchain is a technology that can be applied in different sectors to solve various problems. As a complex system, agribusiness presents many possibilities to take advantage of blockchain technology. The main goal of this paper is to identify the purposes for which blockchain has been applied in the agribusiness sector, for which a PRISMA-based systematic review was carried out. The scientific literature corpus was accessed and selected from Elsevier’s Scopus and ISI of Knowledge’s Web of Science (WoS) platforms, using the PRISMA protocol procedures. Seventy-one articles were selected for analysis. Blockchain application in agribusiness is a novel topic, with the first publication dating from 2016. The technological development prevails more than blockchain applications since it has been addressed mainly in the Computer Sciences and Engineering. Blockchain applications for agribusiness management of financial, energy, logistical, environmental, agricultural, livestock, and industrial purposes have been reported in the literature. The findings suggest that blockchain brings many benefits when used in agribusiness supply chains. We concluded that the research on blockchain applications in agribusiness is only at an early stage, as many prototypes are being developed and tested in the laboratory. In the near future, blockchain will be increasingly applied across all economic sectors, including agribusiness, promoting greater reliability and agility in information with a reduced cost. Several gaps for future studies were observed, with significant value for science, industry, and society.

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The Genus Haplophyllum Juss.: Phytochemistry and Bioactivities—A Review

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26154664 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 26 (15) ◽

pp. 4664

Author(s):

Majid Mohammadhosseini ◽

Alessandro Venditti ◽

Claudio Frezza ◽

Mauro Serafini ◽

Armandodoriano Bianco ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Organic Acids ◽

Essential Oils ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Scientific Information ◽

Comprehensive Review ◽

Scientific Databases ◽

Organic Extracts ◽

Chemical Profiles ◽

Therapeutic Properties

Herein, a comprehensive review is given focusing on the chemical profiles of the essential oils (EOs), non-volatile compounds, ethnobotany, and biological activities of different Haplophyllum (Rutaceae family) species. To gather the relevant data, all the scientific databases, including Scopus, ISI-WOS (Institute of Scientific Information-Web of Science), and PubMed and highly esteemed publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, Taylor and Francis, etc., were systematically retrieved and reviewed. A wide array of valuable groups of natural compounds, e.g., terpenoids, coumarins, alkaloids, lignans, flavonoids, and organic acids have been isolated and subsequently characterized in different organic extracts of a number of Haplophyllum species. In addition, some remarkable antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, cytotoxic, antileishmanial, and antialgal effects as well as promising remedial therapeutic properties have been well-documented for some species of the genus Haplophyllum.

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Biogenic Iodine and Iodine-Containing Metabolites

Natural Product Communications ◽

10.1177/1934578x0600100210 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 1934578X0600100 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Valery M Dembitsky

Keyword(s):

Marine Invertebrates ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Biological Significance ◽

Covalent Bond ◽

Minor Components ◽

Marine Area ◽

The Future ◽

Comprehensive Survey ◽

Living Organisms

This review is intended as a comprehensive survey of iodinated metabolites possessing carbon–iodine covalent bond, which have been obtained from living organisms. Generally thought to be minor components produced by many different organisms these interesting compounds now number more than 110. Many from isolated and identified iodine-containing metabolites showed high biological activities. Recent research, especially in the marine area, indicates this number will increase in the future. Sources of iodinated metabolites include microorganisms, algae, marine invertebrates, and some animals. Their origin and possible biological significance have also been discussed.

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Natural Products Targeting the Mitochondria in Cancers

Molecules ◽

10.3390/molecules26010092 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 92

Author(s):

Yue Yang ◽

Ping-Ya He ◽

Yi Zhang ◽

Ning Li

Keyword(s):

Natural Products ◽

Anticancer Drugs ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Keyword Search ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Natural Compounds ◽

New Drugs ◽

Antitumor Effects ◽

Regulate Cell Growth ◽

Anticancer Drug Discovery

There are abundant sources of anticancer drugs in nature that have a broad prospect in anticancer drug discovery. Natural compounds, with biological activities extracted from plants and marine and microbial metabolites, have significant antitumor effects, but their mechanisms are various. In addition to providing energy to cells, mitochondria are involved in processes, such as cell differentiation, cell signaling, and cell apoptosis, and they have the ability to regulate cell growth and cell cycle. Summing up recent data on how natural products regulate mitochondria is valuable for the development of anticancer drugs. This review focuses on natural products that have shown antitumor effects via regulating mitochondria. The search was done in PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases, over a 5-year period, between 2015 and 2020, with a keyword search that focused on natural products, natural compounds, phytomedicine, Chinese medicine, antitumor, and mitochondria. Many natural products have been studied to have antitumor effects on different cells and can be further processed into useful drugs to treat cancer. In the process of searching for valuable new drugs, natural products such as terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, coumarins, and quinones cover the broad space.

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Sulfated and Sulfur-Containing Steroids and Their Pharmacological Profile

Marine Drugs ◽

10.3390/md19050240 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (5) ◽

pp. 240

Author(s):

Tatyana A. Pounina ◽

Tatyana A. Gloriozova ◽

Nick Savidov ◽

Valery M. Dembitsky

Keyword(s):

Antitumor Activity ◽

Confidence Level ◽

Biological Activities ◽

Marine Sponges ◽

Bioactive Lipids ◽

Pharmacological Profile ◽

Wide Range ◽

Sulfated Steroids ◽

Strong Antitumor Activity ◽

Sulfur Containing

The review focuses on sulfated steroids that have been isolated from seaweeds, marine sponges, soft corals, ascidians, starfish, and other marine invertebrates. Sulfur-containing steroids and triterpenoids are sourced from sedentary marine coelenterates, plants, marine sediments, crude oil, and other geological deposits. The review presents the pharmacological profile of sulfated steroids, sulfur-containing steroids, and triterpenoids, which is based on data obtained using the PASS program. In addition, several semi-synthetic and synthetic epithio steroids, which represent a rare group of bioactive lipids that have not yet been found in nature, but possess a high level of antitumor activity, were included in this review for the comparative pharmacological characterization of this class of compounds. About 140 steroids and triterpenoids are presented in this review, which demonstrate a wide range of biological activities. Therefore, out of 71 sulfated steroids, thirteen show strong antitumor activity with a confidence level of more than 90%, out of 50 sulfur-containing steroids, only four show strong antitumor activity with a confidence level of more than 93%, and out of eighteen epithio steroids, thirteen steroids show strong antitumor activity with a confidence level of 91% to 97.4%.

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