A Perspective on Enzyme Inhibitors from Marine Organisms

Abstract

Marine habitats are promising sources for the identification of novel organisms as well as natural products. Still, we lack detailed knowledge on most of the marine biosphere. In the last decade, a number of reports described the potential of identifying novel bioactive compounds or secondary metabolites from marine environments. This is, and will be, a promising source for candidate compounds in pharma research and chemical biology. In recent years, a number of novel techniques were introduced into the field, and it has become easier to actually prospect for natural products, such as enzyme inhibitors. These novel compounds then need to be characterized and evaluated in comparison to well-known representatives. A number of current research projects target the exploitation of marine organisms and thus the corresponding diversity of metabolites. These are often encountered as potential drugs or biological active compounds. Among these, the class of enzyme inhibitors is an important group of compounds. There is room for new discoveries, and some more recent discoveries are highlighted herein.

In vitro screening of extracts from 38 marine animal resources for novel cosmeceutical activities

“…Among others, marine animals, especially invertebrates such as mollusks, sponges, cnidarians, echinoderms, and tunicates are deeply investigated for their secondary metabolites (including polyphenolic compounds, polysaccharides, peptides, alkaloids, etc.) beneficial to diverse physiological activities (Ebada et al, 2008;Tischler, 2020). However, it is still not deeply explored and illuminated about bioactivity and their mechanism pathway of the marine animals as promising novel cosmeceuticals.…”

Effects of sponge-derived polybrominated diphenyl ethers on human cancer cell α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase and bacterial α-d-galactosidase and their antioxidant activity

“…49,50 In the last years, marine organisms have received increased attention as a source of enzyme inhibitors, due to their potential use in pharmacology. 51,52 To date, few attempts have been made to find inhibitors of glycoside hydrolases, such as α-Galase and α-NaGalase, among low molecular marine natural products. The previously characterized low molecular marine inhibitors of the α-galactosidase from the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp.…”

β-Lactams from the Ocean

“…Recognition that the biosynthetic source of these marine structures is in many cases marine bacteria is complemented by a growing understanding of what bacteria to culture and how to genetically manipulate the bacteria. These questions regarding marine bacteria, as in the case of marine Streptomyces [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ], may address the difficulty of understanding the ecological role of “antibiotic” secondary metabolites [ 17 , 18 ], so as to enable activation of their biosynthetic gene clusters. Practical solutions to this challenge were discussed recently with reference to lasonolide A, another as yet promising marine antitumor antibiotic [ 19 , 20 ].…”