Advances on marine-derived natural radioprotection compounds: historic development and future perspective.

Natural extracts and compounds from marine resources have gained intensive scientific and industry attention for radioprotective activities in the past ten years. However, the marine-derived radioprotectants have been studied against UV-rays, gamma (γ)-rays and X-rays for more than 30 years. This review aims to identify key marine-derived extracts/compounds and their modes of action studied for radioprotective activities from 1986 to 2019. A comprehensive survey was conducted to establish the trend in terms of the publications each year and the countries of origin. A total of 40 extracts and 34 natural compounds showing radioprotective activities against UV-rays, gamma (γ)-rays and X-rays were identified from a range of marine plants and animals. These extracts and compounds are broadly categorized into polysaccharides, phlorotannins, carotenoids and mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). Macroalgae and microalgae were found to be the dominant sources of polysaccharides, phlorotannins and carotenoids. MAAs were mainly identified in algae, sponges, sea cucumber and corals that showed significant UV-absorbing activities. A number of radioprotective mechanisms were shown by these compounds, predominantly free radicals scavenging, inhibition of apoptosis, UV-ray absorption and DNA damage-repair signaling pathways. While these bio-discoveries warrant further investigation and development of radioprotective therapeutics, however, the lack of clinical studies is a major obstacle to be tackled in the future. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42995-021-00095-x.

In vitro studies of the neuroprotective activities of astaxanthin and fucoxanthin against amyloid beta (Aß1-42) toxicity and aggregation.

Amyloid beta (Aß) can aggregate and form plaques, which are considered as one of the major hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. This study aims to directly compare the neuroprotective activities in vitro of two marine-derived carotenoids astaxanthin and fucoxanthin that have shown a spectrum of biological activities, including neuroprotection. The in vitro neuroprotective activities were investigated against Aß1-42-mediated toxicity in pheochromocytoma (PC-12) neuronal cells using the MTT cell viability assay, anti-apoptotic, antioxidant and neurite outgrowth activities; as well as inhibition against Aß1-42 fibrillization in the Thioflavin T (ThT) assay of fibril kinetics and via transmission electron microscopic (TEM) evaluation of fibril morphology. The results demonstrated that both astaxanthin and fucoxanthin exhibited multi-neuroprotective effects favouring fucoxanthin over astaxanthin supporting neuroprotective roles of marine-derived carotenoids as potential novel dementia prevention or therapeutic strategies.

Comparative study on neuroprotective activities of fucoidans from Fucus vesiculosus and Undaria pinnatifida.

This study investigated the neuroprotective activities of five different fucoidan samples with different chemical compositions prepared from Fucus vesiculosus (FE, FF, and S) and Undaria pinnatifida (UE and UF) to determine if they reduced aggregation or cytotoxicity of Aß1-42 in neuronal PC-12 cells. Only fucoidans S, UE, and UF showed anti-aggregation effects against Aß1-42, as determined using Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorometric fibrillisation kinetics and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of fibril morphology. However, all five fucoidan samples reduced the cytotoxicity of both Aß1-42 and hydrogen peroxide in neuronal PC-12 cells and demonstrated inhibition of apoptosis induced by Aß1-42. Three fucoidan samples (FF, UE and UF) showed significant activity in enhancing neurite outgrowth. Fucoidan from different seaweed sources and with varying chemical compositions demonstrate a range of neuroprotective activities that may have potential to alter Aß1-42 neurotoxicity in Alzheimer's disease.

In vitro protective activity of South Australian marine sponge and macroalgae extracts against amyloid beta (Aß1-42) induced neurotoxicity in PC-12 cells.

South Australia is a biodiversity hotspot of marine sponges and macroalgae. This study aimed to evaluate the potential neuroprotective activity of extracts from these two marine sources by reducing the toxicity of human amyloid beta Aß1-42 in a cell model assay using PC-12 cells. A total of 92 extracts (43, 13, 16, and 20 extracts from sponge of 8 orders and 17 families, green algae of 3 orders and 4 families, brown algae of 6 orders and 8 families, and red algae of 5 orders and 10 families, respectively) were initially screened at three different concentrations (0.25, 2.5 and 25 µg/mL) to evaluate their toxicity using the MTT assay. About half of these extracts (26, 6, 5, and 10 extracts from sponge, green algae, brown algae, and red algae, respectively) showed some cytotoxicity, and were hence excluded from further assays. The rest of extracts (45 extracts in total) at 0.25 and 25 µg/mL were subsequently screened in a neuroprotection assay against Aß1-42 cytotoxicity. A cell viability reduction of 30% was observed in the MTT assay when the cells were treated with 1 µM Aß1-42. 29 extracts (13, 4, 7, and 5 extracts from sponge, green algae, brown algae, and red algae, respectively) reduced the toxicity induced by Aß1-42 (P < 0.05), indicating neuroprotective activity. These results demonstrate that marine sponge and macroalgae form a broad spectrum are promising sources of neuroprotective compounds against the hallmark neurotoxic protein in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Neuroprotective Activities of Marine Natural Products from Marine Sponges.

This review covers the compounds isolated from marine sponges with neuroprotective activities during the period between 1999 and 2014 based on their chemical structures, collections sites, sponge taxonomy and neuroprotective effects. These compounds were isolated from marine sponges collected from 18 countries, most of them in Indonesia, followed by Japan. A total of 90 compounds were reported to exhibit a range of neuroprotective efficacy. These compounds were shown to inhibit ß-site amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), modulate the synthesis or activity of some neurotransmitters such as acetylcholinesterase and glutamate, enhancement of serotonin, reducing oxidative stress, inhibition of kinases and proteases, and enhancement of neurite growth. None of them have yet progressed into any marine pharmaceutical development pipeline, therefore sustained researches will be required to enhance the potential of utilizing these compounds in the future for prevention and therapeutic treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.