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Marine Drugs, Volume 23, Issue 11

2025 November - 36 articles

Cover Story: Marine ecosystems provide a vast source of structurally unique metabolites with strong pharmacological potential. Decades of exploration have revealed numerous bioactive compounds, many with chemical scaffolds absent in terrestrial organisms, making them promising anticancer leads. This review examines marine natural products in preclinical studies, grouped into major families such as alkaloids, terpenes, macrocycles, macrolides, peptides, and other complex classes including polyketides and thiazole lipids. The total synthesis procedures developed over the last ten years are reported here, which allow sufficient production of rare metabolites, helping to overcome the limited natural availability of marine compounds. View this paper
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Articles (36)

  • Review
  • Open Access
1,128 Views
22 Pages

20 November 2025

Advances in neuroscience, immunology, and neuroimmunology have revealed that the nervous and immune systems form a bidirectional integrated network, ranging from regulating inflammation to directing stress responses, pivotal for the maintenance of th...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,181 Views
25 Pages

A Marine-Derived Sterol, Ergosterol, Mitigates UVB-Induced Skin Photodamage via Dual Inhibition of NF-κB and MAPK Signaling

  • Junming Zhang,
  • Jiangming Zhong,
  • Yi Li,
  • Qi Zhou,
  • Zhiyun Du,
  • Li Lin,
  • Peng Shu,
  • Ling Jiang and
  • Wei Zhou

19 November 2025

Background: Ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation induces oxidative stress, inflammation, and collagen degradation in skin, leading to photodamage. Ergosterol (ERG)—a sterol widely distributed in fungi and algae, including numerous marine species&mdash...

  • Article
  • Open Access
756 Views
17 Pages

Botryocladia leptopoda Extracts Promote Wound Healing Ability via Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities and Regulation of MMP/TIMP Expression

  • Shin-Ping Lin,
  • Tsung-Kai Yi,
  • Yi-Feng Kao,
  • Ming-Chieh Tu,
  • Chen-Che Hsieh,
  • Yu-Chieh Chou,
  • Jheng-Jhe Lu,
  • Shella Permatasari Santoso,
  • Huey-Jine Chai and
  • Kuan-Chen Cheng

19 November 2025

Wound healing is a complex process involving coordinated actions of multiple cell types. Therefore, when developing therapeutics to promote wound healing, it is essential to consider the synergistic contributions of various cells at different stages...

  • Article
  • Open Access
673 Views
16 Pages

Characterization and Valorization of the Microalgal Co-Product Spirugrass®: Protein Profile, Iron Speciation, and Potential Use as a Supplement for Honeybees

  • Thomas Dalmonte,
  • Cecilia Rudelli,
  • Daniele Alberoni,
  • Angelica Lembo,
  • Imma Gifuni,
  • Giulia Andreani,
  • Massimo Castellari and
  • Gloria Isani

18 November 2025

Microalgae are used as dietary supplements for humans and animals, due to their excellent nutritional profile. This research aims to characterize Spirugrass®, a co-product obtained after the extraction of phycocyanin from Limnospira platensis, an...

  • Article
  • Open Access
934 Views
15 Pages

Dictyostelium discoideum as a Platform to Assess the Cytotoxicity of Marine Algal Extracts: The Case of Glossophora kunthii

  • Sheyla J. Figueroa-Valencia,
  • Marcos Hernández,
  • Grover Castañeta,
  • Ian Pérez,
  • Alejandro Ardiles,
  • Elizabeth Figueroa-Valencia,
  • Teresa Cano de Terrones,
  • Francisco P. Chávez and
  • Carlos Areche

17 November 2025

The social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum is a versatile biological model widely used in drug discovery and studying cellular stress responses. However, its application for cytotoxicity evaluation of natural products, particularly algal-derived comp...

  • Article
  • Open Access
840 Views
12 Pages

16 November 2025

Although marine sponges display strikingly diverse colors, the molecular basis of this color diversity remains largely unknown. Recently, the blue coloration of Haliclona sp. was attributed to a water-soluble carotenoprotein that binds orange astaxan...

  • Review
  • Open Access
1,432 Views
29 Pages

Structure Meets Function: Dissecting Fucoxanthin’s Bioactive Architecture

  • Patrícia Nogueira,
  • Victória Bombarda-Rocha,
  • Rita Tavares-Henriques,
  • Mariana Carneiro,
  • Emília Sousa,
  • Jorge Gonçalves and
  • Paula Fresco

15 November 2025

Fucoxanthin (Fx), a marine xanthophyll carotenoid, has attracted considerable scientific attention due to its wide-ranging biological activities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and anticancer effects. Despite its substantial...

  • Review
  • Open Access
1 Citations
929 Views
21 Pages

Marine-Derived Natural Substances with Anticholinesterase Activity

  • Daniela Dimitrova,
  • Gabriela Kehayova,
  • Simeonka Dimitrova and
  • Stela Dragomanova

15 November 2025

Alzheimer’s disease continues to be one of the most urgent neurodegenerative conditions, with acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors serving as a fundamental component of contemporary treatment approaches. Growing evidence underscores that mari...

  • Review
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,315 Views
27 Pages

Natural Products from Marine Microorganisms with Agricultural Applications

  • Michi Yao,
  • Hafiz Muhammad Usama Shaheen,
  • Chen Zuo,
  • Yue Xiong,
  • Bo He,
  • Yonghao Ye and
  • Wei Yan

14 November 2025

Global agricultural production is challenging due to climate change and a number of phyto-pathogenic organisms and pests that pose a significant threat to both crop growth and productivity. The growing resistance of pests and diseases to synthetic ch...

  • Article
  • Open Access
700 Views
17 Pages

Total Synthesis of Peniterphenyls A and E

  • Huayan Xu,
  • Yuyue Li,
  • Yuecheng Fang,
  • Juan Liu,
  • Junfeng Wang,
  • Shengrong Liao and
  • Yonghong Liu

14 November 2025

Our previously discovered marine natural products, peniterphenyls A and E, exhibit superior anti-herpes simplex virus 1/2 (HSV 1/2) activity, probably via interference with virus adsorption and membrane fusion to host cells. Their clear mechanism mod...

  • Article
  • Open Access
888 Views
19 Pages

The Prevalence and Diversity of Marine Toxin–Antitoxin Systems

  • Cong Liu,
  • Yunxue Guo,
  • Jiayu Gu,
  • Zhen Wei,
  • Pengxiang Chen and
  • Xiaoxue Wang

13 November 2025

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems, ubiquitous in bacterial and archaeal genomes, play pivotal roles in responding to environmental stresses, forming biofilms, defending against phages, and influencing pathogen virulence. The marine environment harbors Ear...

  • Article
  • Open Access
812 Views
18 Pages

Impact of Individual Process Parameters on Extraction of Polysaccharides from Saccharina latissima

  • Elmira Khajavi Ahmadi,
  • Said Al-Hamimi,
  • Madeleine Jönsson and
  • Roya R. R. Sardari

13 November 2025

While numerous extraction methods have been applied to the brown algae Saccharina latissima, a systematic evaluation of how individual extraction parameters influence the extraction of each target polysaccharide has not previously been reported. Acco...

  • Article
  • Open Access
650 Views
20 Pages

13 November 2025

A single dose of chitosan-tripolyphosphate (TPP) nanoparticles carrying expression plasmids for fish codon-optimized Caenorhabditis elegans fat-1 and fat-2 was intraperitoneally administered to gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) to stimulate the biosy...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,269 Views
27 Pages

Native Collagen and Total Lipid Extract Obtained from Caranx hyppos By-Products: Characterization for Potential Use in the Biomedical and Nutraceutical Fields

  • Sheyza Menéndez-Tasé,
  • Evelin Gaeta-Leal,
  • Darío Iker Téllez-Medina,
  • Daniel Tapia-Maruri,
  • Edgar Oliver López-Villegas,
  • Georgina Calderón-Domínguez,
  • Tzayhri Gallardo-Velázquez,
  • Guillermo Osorio-Revilla,
  • Mayuric Teresa Hernández-Botello and
  • Diana Maylet Hernández-Martínez

9 November 2025

The processing of fishery products generates a substantial amount of by-products, which can be utilized to promote a circular economy. The objective of the present study was to extract and characterize native collagen and total lipid extract from the...

  • Review
  • Open Access
1,373 Views
52 Pages

Two Decades of Research on Marine-Derived Alternaria: Structural Diversity, Biomedical Potential, and Applications

  • Diaa T. A. Youssef,
  • Areej S. Alqarni,
  • Lamiaa A. Shaala,
  • Alaa A. Bagalagel,
  • Sana A. Fadil,
  • Abdelsattar M. Omar and
  • Mostafa E. Rateb

7 November 2025

Marine-derived species of the genus Alternaria are widely distributed across diverse aquatic habitats, functioning as pathogens, endophytes, and saprophytes. These fungi are notable for their ability to produce structurally diverse secondary metaboli...

  • Review
  • Open Access
3,042 Views
31 Pages

Marine Natural Products in Preclinical Cancer Studies: Ten Years of Advanced Total Synthesis

  • Ester Colarusso,
  • Assunta Giordano,
  • Maria Giovanna Chini,
  • Giuseppe Bifulco and
  • Gianluigi Lauro

7 November 2025

Marine ecosystems represent an exceptional reservoir of structurally diverse metabolites with remarkable pharmacological potential. Over the past decades, the exploration of marine organisms has led to the discovery of an ever-expanding number of bio...

  • Communication
  • Open Access
1 Citations
702 Views
10 Pages

Two New Chromone Derivatives from a Marine Algicolous Fungus Aspergillus versicolor GXIMD 02518 and Their Osteoclastogenesis Inhibitory Activity

  • Xin Qi,
  • Zhen Li,
  • Miaoping Lin,
  • Humu Lu,
  • Shuai Peng,
  • Huangxue Qin,
  • Yonghong Liu,
  • Chenghai Gao and
  • Xiaowei Luo

7 November 2025

Two new chromone derivatives, cnidimols I and J (1 and 2), together with ten known aromatic derivatives (312), were isolated from the Beibu Gulf algicolous fungus Aspergillus versicolor GXIMD 02518. Their structures were determined by comprehe...

  • Article
  • Open Access
800 Views
19 Pages

Vaterite/Fucoidan Hybrid Microparticles: Fabrication, Loading of Lactoferrin, Structural Characteristics and Functional Properties

  • Daniil V. Mosievich,
  • Nadezhda G. Balabushevich,
  • Pavel I. Mishin,
  • Lyubov Y. Filatova,
  • Marina A. Murina,
  • Olga V. Pobeguts,
  • Maria A. Galyamina,
  • Ekaterina A. Obraztsova,
  • Daria V. Grigorieva and
  • Elena V. Mikhalchik
  • + 4 authors

5 November 2025

Fucoidan is of considerable interest for the development of drug carriers. The inclusion of fucoidan allows calcium carbonate microparticles in the form of vaterite to acquire new properties, enabling their use in the immobilization of protein prepar...

  • Article
  • Open Access
947 Views
16 Pages

Bioactivity and in Silico Insights of Collagen-Derived Peptides from Jellyfish (Stomolophus sp. 2) Mesoglea

  • Blanca del Sol Villalba-Urquidy,
  • Wilfrido Torres-Arreola,
  • Isabel Medina,
  • Laura Estefany Hernández-Aguirre,
  • Jesús Enrique Chan-Higuera and
  • Josafat Marina Ezquerra-Brauer

5 November 2025

Jellyfish, a promising source of bioactive compounds, has attracted the attention of the biotechnology sector. This research explored the antioxidant and antimutagenic properties and the genotoxicity of peptides derived from blue cannonball jellyfish...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,072 Views
20 Pages

Structural Comparison and Therapeutic Effects on Ulcerative Colitis of Fucoidan and Its Derivative from Saccharina japonica

  • Yanlei Yu,
  • Xiaoshu Jin,
  • Yunjie Zhao,
  • Ningning Wang,
  • Yi Hua,
  • Youmin Ying,
  • Bin Wei and
  • Hong Wang

3 November 2025

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can lead to intestinal complications and systemic risks, significantly increasing the likelihood of colorectal cancer in individuals with long-term illness. Fucoidan has shown...

  • Review
  • Open Access
933 Views
17 Pages

31 October 2025

Deep-sea mussels of the genus Bathymodiolus exhibit adaptability to nutrient-poor deep-sea environments by establishing nutritional intracellular symbiosis with chemosynthetic bacteria harbored within the gill epithelial cells. However, this poses a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
948 Views
17 Pages

31 October 2025

Marine diatoms are an important group of phytoplankton that can shape marine ecosystems and global carbon cycling. When stressed, either physiologically or by grazing, diatoms release oxidized, lipid-derived signals known as oxylipins. Diatom-derived...

  • Article
  • Open Access
937 Views
22 Pages

30 October 2025

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a histologic marker of pancreatic cancer and a potential therapeutic target. This study aimed to characterize a novel sulfated agarose-derived oligosaccharide (DP9) from marine algae, Gracilaria lemaneiformis, evaluate its Gal-3...

  • Article
  • Open Access
819 Views
10 Pages

Cembrane-Based Diterpenoids Isolated from the Soft Coral Sarcophyton sp.

  • Yueping Wang,
  • Xiaohui Li,
  • Yusen Guo,
  • Te Li,
  • Xia Yan,
  • Han Ouyang,
  • Wenhan Lin,
  • Bin Wu,
  • Hongyu Hu and
  • Shan He

30 October 2025

This research explored the chemical composition of the soft coral Sarcophyton sp., leading to the discovery of six previously unreported cembranoids, sarcophynoids D–I (16), and three known analog compounds (79). Structural elucid...

  • Article
  • Open Access
779 Views
25 Pages

Obtainment of Two Monomorphic Nematocysts from Nemopilema nomurai (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) and Comparative Analysis of the Biological Activities of Their Contents

  • Yongfei Lyu,
  • Yichao Huang,
  • Juxingsi Song,
  • Dayuan Zhou,
  • Shuaijun Zou,
  • Jie Li,
  • Fan Wang,
  • Qianqian Wang,
  • Yanan Hu and
  • Guoyan Liu
  • + 4 authors

30 October 2025

Nemopilema nomurai is a species of common large toxic jellyfish in China seas, and its tentacle tissues contain various types of nematocysts. However, the correlation between the morphology and function of nematocysts still remains unclear. In this s...

  • Article
  • Open Access
725 Views
18 Pages

Phytochemicals and Bioactivities of the Halophyte Sea Mayweed (Tripleurospermum maritimum L.)

  • Clément Lemoine,
  • Maria João Rodrigues,
  • Xavier Dauvergne,
  • Stéphane Cérantola,
  • Luísa Margarida Batista Custódio and
  • Christian Magné

30 October 2025

Sea mayweed (Tripleurospermum maritimum L. syn. Matricaria maritima) is a halophytic species widely distributed along the Atlantic shoreline. Unlike other Tripleurospermum species, the chemical composition and biological activities of this halophyte...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,027 Views
21 Pages

29 October 2025

Diatoxanthin is a photoprotective carotenoid found in a few groups of microalgae displaying in vitro anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, making it a promising candidate for nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications. However,...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,427 Views
15 Pages

27 October 2025

While the starfish species Asterias pectinifera (Ap) and Asterias amurensis (Aa) are considered ecological threats to marine environments and the fishing industry, recent studies have identified them as rich sources of highly water-soluble, non-toxic...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,301 Views
22 Pages

26 October 2025

This study investigated the year-round metabolomic variation in Fucus serratus (FS) and F. vesiculosus (FV) collected monthly from Danish coastal water around Aarhus Bay. Untargeted high-resolution liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry profil...

  • Article
  • Open Access
938 Views
10 Pages

Montagnulans A–D with Anti-Osteoclastogenic Activity from the Marine Fungus Montagnula sp. GXIMD 02514

  • Miaoping Lin,
  • Humu Lu,
  • Jiaxi Wang,
  • Huangxue Qin,
  • Xinya Xu,
  • Chenghai Gao,
  • Yonghong Liu,
  • Yanhui Tan and
  • Xiaowei Luo

25 October 2025

Four novel tetramic acid compounds, montagnulans A–D (14), were obtained from the Beibu Gulf coral-associated fungus Montagnula sp. GXIMD 02514. Their structures were determined by comprehensive physicochemical and spectroscopic data int...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,205 Views
16 Pages

5Z-7-Oxozeanol Isolated from the Fungus Curvularia sp. MDCW-1060 Inhibits the Proliferation of MDA-MB-231 Cells via the PI3K-Akt and MAPK Pathways

  • Hong Zhang,
  • Jianjian Wang,
  • Chang Xu,
  • Kai Liu,
  • Jufang Xie,
  • Zhoucheng He,
  • Yonghong Liu,
  • Cong Wang and
  • Xinjian Qu

23 October 2025

The discovery of novel marine natural products and their sustainable application continue to be vital focuses in marine biological research. The aim of this study is to investigate the inhibitory effect of the compound 5Z-7-Oxozeaenol isolated from t...

  • Review
  • Open Access
1,739 Views
30 Pages

Therapeutic Potential of Neopyropia yezoensis: An Updated Review

  • Anshul Sharma,
  • Na Young Yoon and
  • Hae-Jeung Lee

23 October 2025

Neopyropia (N.) yezoensis is a widely cultivated red alga in East Asia and valued worldwide for its rich bioactive constituents recognized for their health benefits, including polsaccharides, porphyrans, pigments, phenolic compounds, phycobiliprotein...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,151 Views
15 Pages

Identifying a Marine-Derived Small-Molecule Nucleoprotein Inhibitor Against Influenza A Virus

  • Zihan Wang,
  • Yang Zhang,
  • Shangjie Xu,
  • Lishan Sun,
  • Hongwei Zhao and
  • Wei Wang

23 October 2025

Influenza A virus (IAV) poses a major threat to global public health, exerting immense pressure on human health and the economy. The IAV nucleoprotein (NP) is an ideal target for antiviral drug development. Through Mini-genome and Surface Plasmon Res...

  • Review
  • Open Access
1 Citations
3,120 Views
26 Pages

Seaweed Polysaccharides: A Rational Approach for Food Safety Studies

  • João Cotas,
  • Mariana Lourenço,
  • Artur Figueirinha,
  • Ana Valado and
  • Leonel Pereira

22 October 2025

Marine macroalgae (seaweed) are a rich source of bioactive polysaccharides such as agar, carrageenan, and alginate. These three compounds are classified as food additive ingredients, widely used as gelling, thickening, stabilizing, and emulsifying ag...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3,466 Views
24 Pages

Sea Cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus): Bioactivity and Wound Healing Capacity In Vitro of Small Peptide Isolates from Digests of Whole-Body Wall or Purified Collagen

  • Leticia Olivera-Castillo,
  • George Grant,
  • Oscar Medina-Contreras,
  • Honorio Cruz-López,
  • Leydi Carrillo-Cocom,
  • Ariadnna Cruz-Córdova,
  • Frank Segura-Cadiz,
  • Daniel Alejandro Fernández-Velasco,
  • Sergio Rodríguez-Morales and
  • Rossanna Rodriguez-Canul
  • + 6 authors

22 October 2025

Low-molecular-weight peptides derived from the digestion of body wall proteins in some sea cucumber species have wound-healing and health-promoting properties, but their potency varies widely by species, growth environment, age, and season. For the f...

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Mar. Drugs - ISSN 1660-3397