Nortopsentins as Leads from Marine Organisms for Anticancer and Anti-Inflammatory Agent Development

Marine natural products

Covering: January to the end of December 2023This review covers the literature published in 2023 for marine natural products (MNPs), with 582 citations (541 for the period January to December 2023) referring to compounds isolated from marine microorganisms and phytoplankton, green, brown and red algae, sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, molluscs, tunicates, echinoderms, the submerged parts of mangroves and other intertidal plants. The emphasis is on new compounds (1220 in 340 papers for 2023), together with the relevant biological activities, source organisms and country of origin. Pertinent reviews, biosynthetic studies, first syntheses, and syntheses that led to the revision of structures or stereochemistries, have been included. An analysis of the progress in the study of prokaryote involvement in macro-invertebrate MNP production is discussed.

Inflammatory Processes: Key Mediators of Oncogenesis and Progression in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)

Associations between inflammation and cancer were first discovered approximately 160 years ago by Rudolf Virchow, who observed that tumors were infiltrated with inflammatory cells, and defined inflammation as a pathological condition. Inflammation has now emerged as one of the key mediators in oncogenesis and tumor progression, including pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). However, the role of inflammatory processes in cancers is complicated and controversial, and the detailed regulatory mechanisms are still unclear. This review elucidates the dynamic interplay between inflammation and immune regulation, microenvironment alteration, metabolic reprogramming, and microbiome risk factors in PDAC, committing to exploring a deeper understanding of the role of crucial inflammatory pathways and molecules for providing insights into therapeutic strategies.

Effects of Marine Natural Products on Liver Diseases

The prevention and treatment of liver disease, a class of disease that seriously threatens human health, has always been a hot topic of medical research. In recent years, with the in-depth exploration of marine resources, marine natural products have shown great potential and value in the field of liver disease treatment. Compounds extracted and isolated from marine natural products have a variety of biological activities such as significant antiviral properties, showing potential in the management of alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), protection of the liver from fibrosis, protection from liver injury and inhibition of the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This paper summarizes the progress of research on marine natural products for the treatment of liver diseases in the past decade, including the structural types of active substances from different natural products and the mechanisms underlying the modulation of different liver diseases and reviews their future prospects.

Marine-Derived Leads as Anticancer Candidates by Disrupting Hypoxic Signaling through Hypoxia-Inducible Factors Inhibition

The inadequate vascularization seen in fast-growing solid tumors gives rise to hypoxic areas, fostering specific changes in gene expression that bolster tumor cell survival and metastasis, ultimately leading to unfavorable clinical prognoses across different cancer types. Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF-1 and HIF-2) emerge as druggable pivotal players orchestrating tumor metastasis and angiogenesis, thus positioning them as prime targets for cancer treatment. A range of HIF inhibitors, notably natural compounds originating from marine organisms, exhibit encouraging anticancer properties, underscoring their significance as promising therapeutic options. Bioprospection of the marine environment is now a well-settled approach to the discovery and development of anticancer agents that might have their medicinal chemistry developed into clinical candidates. However, despite the massive increase in the number of marine natural products classified as 'anticancer leads,' most of which correspond to general cytotoxic agents, and only a few have been characterized regarding their molecular targets and mechanisms of action. The current review presents a critical analysis of inhibitors of HIF-1 and HIF-2 and hypoxia-selective compounds that have been sourced from marine organisms and that might act as new chemotherapeutic candidates or serve as templates for the development of structurally similar derivatives with improved anticancer efficacy.

Marine-Derived Anticancer Agents Targeting Apoptotic Pathways: Exploring the Depths for Novel Cancer Therapies

Extensive research has been conducted on the isolation and study of bioactive compounds derived from marine sources. Several natural products have demonstrated potential as inducers of apoptosis and are currently under investigation in clinical trials. These marine-derived compounds selectively interact with extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways using a variety of molecular mechanisms, resulting in cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation, cytoplasmic blebs, apoptotic bodies, and phagocytosis by adjacent parenchymal cells, neoplastic cells, or macrophages. Numerous marine-derived compounds are currently undergoing rigorous examination for their potential application in cancer therapy. This review examines a total of 21 marine-derived compounds, along with their synthetic derivatives, sourced from marine organisms such as sponges, corals, tunicates, mollusks, ascidians, algae, cyanobacteria, fungi, and actinobacteria. These compounds are currently undergoing preclinical and clinical trials to evaluate their potential as apoptosis inducers for the treatment of different types of cancer. This review further examined the compound's properties and mode of action, preclinical investigations, clinical trial studies on single or combination therapy, and the prospective development of marine-derived anticancer therapies.