Semi-vioxanthin isolated from marine-derived fungus regulates tumor necrosis factor-alpha, cluster of differentiation (CD) 80, CD86, and major histocompatibility complex class II expression in RAW264.7 cells via nuclear factor-kappaB and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways

Recent Discoveries on Marine Organism Immunomodulatory Activities

Marine organisms have been shown to be a valuable source for biologically active compounds for the prevention and treatment of cancer, inflammation, immune system diseases, and other pathologies. The advantage of studying organisms collected in the marine environment lies in their great biodiversity and in the variety of chemical structures of marine natural products. Various studies have focused on marine organism compounds with potential pharmaceutical applications, for instance, as immunomodulators, to treat cancer and immune-mediated diseases. Modulation of the immune system is defined as any change in the immune response that can result in the induction, expression, amplification, or inhibition of any phase of the immune response. Studies very often focus on the effects of marine-derived compounds on macrophages, as well as lymphocytes, by analyzing the release of mediators (cytokines) by using the immunological assay enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blot, immunofluorescence, and real-time PCR. The main sources are fungi, bacteria, microalgae, macroalgae, sponges, mollusks, corals, and fishes. This review is focused on the marine-derived molecules discovered in the last three years as potential immunomodulatory drugs.

Literature-Based Drug Repurposing in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Reduced Inflammatory M1 Macrophage Polarization by Jisil Haebaek Gyeji-Tang Alleviates Cardiovascular Disease In Vitro and Ex Vivo

Relatively high proportions of proinflammatory M1-like macrophages in tissues may lead to vascular impairment and trigger numerous diseases including atherosclerosis-related cardiovascular disease (CVD). Jisil Haebaek Gyeji-tang (JHGT), a polyherbal decoction, is traditionally used to treat various human ailments including chest pain, angina, and myocardial infarction. In the present study, we investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of JHGT on lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) stimulated M1 macrophage polarization generated via the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) pathway in RAW 264.7 mouse macrophages. The reducing power of JHGT was also investigated using DAF-FA DA in a zebrafish model. JHGT  significantly reduced inflammatory mediator levels, including iNOS, COX2, TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β, as compared with LPS-stimulated controls in vitro and ex vivo. Furthermore, JHGT suppressed the ERK1/2, JNK, and p38 MAPK pathways and reduced p-IκBα levels and the nuclear translocation of NF-κB in RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, treatment with JHGT significantly reduced the NO levels in LPS-treated zebrafish larva ex vivo. Our findings show the potent anti-inflammatory properties of JHGT are due to its suppression of MAPK signaling, NF-κB translocation, and M1 macrophage polarization.

Influence of the cultivation medium and pH on the pigmentation of Trichophyton rubrum

Trichophyton rubrum is a human pathogenic fungus. As a dermatophyte it causes athlete's foot, fungal infection of nails, jock itch and ringworm. The pigmentation of T. rubrum is variable and can range from white or yellow to wine-red. We demonstrate that the pigmentation is strongly influenced by pH. Under alkaline conditions, T. rubrum has a red pigmentation, whereas at acid conditions, T. rubrum has a yellow pigmentation. Moreover, the color change immediately from yellow to red by adding NaOH and reverse immediately from red to yellow by adding HCl. We suggest that the chemical compound Xanthomegnin is responsible for red as well for yellow pigmentation in T. rubrum. To figure out, why T. rubrum has red pigmentation on Trichophyton medium, adjust to alkaline, but not on Synthetic-Complete medium, also adjusted to alkaline, we measure the pH of liquid media, adjusted to pH 3.5, 6 and 8, over a period of four weeks. The pH of both cultivation media changes significantly, with a maximum of five pH levels. Whereas the Trichophyton medium, initially adjusted to pH 8, stays alkaline, the pH of the Synthetic-Complete medium drops to acid conditions. The acidification of the SC medium and the alkalization of the Trichophyton medium explains the different pigment color of the T. rubrum colonies.

Oceans as a Source of Immunotherapy

Marine flora is taxonomically diverse, biologically active, and chemically unique. It is an excellent resource, which offers great opportunities for the discovery of new biopharmaceuticals such as immunomodulators and drugs targeting cancerous, inflammatory, microbial, and fungal diseases. The ability of some marine molecules to mediate specific inhibitory activities has been demonstrated in a range of cellular processes, including apoptosis, angiogenesis, and cell migration and adhesion. Immunomodulators have been shown to have significant therapeutic effects on immune-mediated diseases, but the search for safe and effective immunotherapies for other diseases such as sinusitis, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma and allergies is ongoing. This review focuses on the marine-originated bioactive molecules with immunomodulatory potential, with a particular focus on the molecular mechanisms of specific agents with respect to their targets. It also addresses the commercial utilization of these compounds for possible drug improvement using metabolic engineering and genomics.

Naphthopyranones--isolation, bioactivity, biosynthesis and synthesis

The 1H-naphtho[2,3-c]pyran-1-one (naphthopyranone) moiety forms the structural framework of a group of secondary metabolites that have been isolated from a range of organisms including fungi, bacteria, lichen and plants. This review documents the known naturally occurring naphthopyranones - their isolation, biosynthesis and biological activity. A survey of methods reported for the synthesis of naphthopyranone natural products is presented.

Marine natural products targeting phospholipases A2

Phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)s) form a family of enzymes catalyzing the hydrolysis of membrane phospholipids into arachidonic acid, which is the major precursor of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. As a result, PLA(2)s have been considered as potential targets in anti-inflammatory drug discovery. Marine natural products are a rich source of bioactive compounds, including PLA(2) inhibitors. Here, we review the properties of marine PLA(2) inhibitors identified since the first discovery of PLA(2) inhibitory activity in the marine natural product manoalide in the mid 1980s.

Brevicompanine E reduces lipopolysaccharide-induced production of proinflammatory cytokines and enzymes in microglia by inhibiting activation of activator protein-1 and nuclear factor-kappaB

Excessive release of proinflammatory cytokines by activated microglia can cause neurotoxicity in neurodegenerative diseases. We found that Brevicompanine E (BE), isolated from a deep ocean sediment derived fungus Penicillium sp., inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), inducible nitric oxide (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) production in microglia. Moreover, electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) demonstrated that BE attenuated nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1) DNA binding activity in LPS-induced microglia. Consistent with this finding, BE inhibited LPS-induced IkappaBalpha degradation, NF-kappaB nuclear translocation, and also Akt, c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation. Thus, BE may be potentially useful for modulating neuroinflammation.