Search results for "Marine toxin"
showing 10 items of 18 documents
The Anemonia viridis Venom: Coupling Biochemical Purification and RNA-Seq for Translational Research
2018
Blue biotechnologies implement marine bio-resources for addressing practical concerns. The isolation of biologically active molecules from marine animals is one of the main ways this field develops. Strikingly, cnidaria are considered as sustainable resources for this purpose, as they possess unique cells for attack and protection, producing an articulated cocktail of bioactive substances. The Mediterranean sea anemone Anemonia viridis has been studied extensively for years. In this short review, we summarize advances in bioprospecting of the A. viridis toxin arsenal. A. viridis RNA datasets and toxin data mining approaches are briefly described. Analysis reveals the major pool of neurotoxi…
The swinholide biosynthesis gene cluster from a terrestrial cyanobacterium, Nostoc sp. strain UHCC 0450
2017
ABSTRACT Swinholides are 42-carbon ring polyketides with a 2-fold axis of symmetry. They are potent cytotoxins that disrupt the actin cytoskeleton. Swinholides were discovered from the marine sponge Theonella sp. and were long suspected to be produced by symbiotic bacteria. Misakinolide, a structural variant of swinholide, was recently demonstrated to be the product of a symbiotic heterotrophic proteobacterium. Here, we report the production of swinholide A by an axenic strain of the terrestrial cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. strain UHCC 0450. We located the 85-kb trans -AT polyketide synthase (PKS) swinholide biosynthesis gene cluster from a draft genome of Nostoc sp. UHCC 0450. The swinholide …
Exploring kainate receptor pharmacology using molecular dynamics simulations.
2010
Ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) are enticing targets for pharmaceutical research; however, the search for selective ligands is a laborious experimental process. Here we introduce a purely computational procedure as an approach to evaluate ligand–iGluR pharmacology. The ligands are docked into the closed ligand-binding domain and during the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation the bi-lobed interface either opens (partial agonist/antagonist) or stays closed (agonist) according to the properties of the ligand. The procedure is tested with closely related set of analogs of the marine toxin dysiherbaine bound to GluK1 kainate receptor. The modeling is set against the abundant binding data …
Allelopathic effects of microcystin-LR on the germination, growth and metabolism of five charophyte species and a submerged angiosperm
2013
Abstract Microcystins (MCs) are produced by cyanobacteria in aquatic environments and adversely affect macrophytes at very high concentrations. However, the effects of MC on macrophytes at concentrations of environmental relevance are largely unknown. The main objective of this study was to analyze the allelopathic effects of MC-LR at natural concentrations (1, 8 and 16 μgMC-LR/L) on five charophyte species ( Chara aspera , C. baltica , C. hispida , C. vulgaris and Nitella hyalina ) and the angiosperm Myriophyllum spicatum . Macrophyte specimens were obtained from a restored area located in Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, a protected coastal Mediterranean wetland. Two different experimen…
Marine Anticancer Agents: An Overview with a Particular Focus on Their Chemical Classes
2020
The marine environment is a rich source of biologically active molecules for the treatment of human diseases, especially cancer. The adaptation to unique environmental conditions led marine organisms to evolve di erent pathways than their terrestrial counterparts, thus producing unique chemicals with a broad diversity and complexity. So far, more than 36,000 compounds have been isolated from marine micro- and macro-organisms including but not limited to fungi, bacteria, microalgae, macroalgae, sponges, corals, mollusks and tunicates, with hundreds of new marine natural products (MNPs) being discovered every year.Marine-based pharmaceuticals have started to impactmodern pharmacology and diff…
Inhibition of phospholipase A2 activities and some inflammatory responses by the marine product ircinin
1996
The marine product ircinin has been tested for its effects on secretory and cytosolic phospholipase A2 (PLA2) activities in vitro as well as for inhibition of cellular functions in human neutrophils and inflammatory responses in mice. Ircinin inhibited Naja naja venom, human synovial recombinant, bee venom and zymosan-injected rat air pouch PLA2 with IC50 values in the microM range, similar to those of the known inhibitor scalaradial. On the other hand, ircinin was less active on cytosolic PLA2 from human monocytes and decreased potently the release of LTB4 in human neutrophils. This marine product affected weakly human neutrophil functions like superoxide generation and degranulation. In t…
Determination of microcystins in fish by solvent extraction and liquid chromatography
2005
A liquid chromatography electrospray mass spectrometry (LC/ESI/MS) method has been developed to identify and quantify microcystins in fish liver and intestine. Microcystins (MCs) were extracted from 500 mg sample with methanol-water (85:25, v/v) and the extracts concentrated to 250 microl. The parameters were optimized by a full factorial 2(3) design. Neither laborious pre-treatment nor clean up were necessary. MCs were separated using conventional C18 column and an acetonitrile-acidified water (pH 3) gradient. Negative samples (without MCs) were discriminated by liquid chromatography diode array detection (LC/DAD). The limits of detection (LOD) and the limits of quantification (LOQ) result…
Biosensing of microcystins in water samples; recent advances
2020
Safety and quality of water are significant matters for agriculture, animals and human health. Microcystins, as secondary metabolite of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and cyclic heptapeptide cyanotoxin, are one of the main marine toxins in continental aquatic ecosystems. More than 100 microcystins have been identified, of which MC-LR is the most important type due to its high toxicity and common detection in the environment. Climate change is an impressive factor with effects on cyanobacterial blooms as source of microcystins. The presence of this cyanotoxin in freshwater, drinking water, water reservoir supplies and food (vegetable, fish and shellfish) has created a common phenomenon in …
Pharmacological activity of C10-substituted analogs of the high-affinity kainate receptor agonist dysiherbaine
2009
Kainate receptor antagonists have potential as therapeutic agents in a number of neuropathologies. Synthetic modification of the convulsant marine toxin neodysiherbaine A (NDH) previously yielded molecules with a diverse set of pharmacological actions on kainate receptors. Here we characterize three new synthetic analogs of NDH that contain substituents at the C10 position in the pyran ring of the marine toxin. The analogs exhibited high-affinity binding to the GluK1 (GluR5) subunit and lower affinity binding to GluK2 (GluR6) and GluK3 (GluR7) subunits in radioligand displacement assays with recombinant kainate and AMPA receptors. As well, the natural toxin NDH exhibited approximately 100-f…
Mukaiyama–Michael Reactions with Acrolein and Methacrolein: A Catalytic Enantioselective Synthesis of the C17–C28 Fragment of Pectenotoxins
2013
Enantioselective iminium-catalyzed reactions with acrolein and methacrolein are rare. A catalytic enantioselective Mukaiyama-Michael reaction that readily accepts acrolein or methacrolein as substrates, affording the products in good yields and 91-97% ee, is presented. As an application of the methodology, an enantioselective route to the key C17-C28 segment of the pectenotoxin using the Mukaiyama-Michael reaction as the key step is described.