Marine Peptides: Bioactivities and Applications

Abstract

Peptides are important bioactive natural products which are present in many marine species. These marine peptides have high potential nutraceutical and medicinal values because of their broad spectra of bioactivities. Their antimicrobial, antiviral, antitumor, antioxidative, cardioprotective (antihypertensive, antiatherosclerotic and anticoagulant), immunomodulatory, analgesic, anxiolytic anti-diabetic, appetite suppressing and neuroprotective activities have attracted the attention of the pharmaceutical industry, which attempts to design them for use in the treatment or prevention of various diseases. Some marine peptides or their derivatives have high commercial values and had reached the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical markets. A large number of them are already in different phases of the clinical and preclinical pipeline. This review highlights the recent research in marine peptides and the trends and prospects for the future, with special emphasis on nutraceutical and pharmaceutical development into marketed products.

Bovine lactoferricin P13 triggers ROS-mediated caspase-dependent apoptosis in SMMC7721 cells

“…Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are isolated from a range of organisms, including insects, fish, amphibians and mammals (3,4), are typically cationic and amphipathic molecules (5). AMPs exhibit a wide range of antibacterial activities through direct electrostatic bonding to the anionic surfaces of bacteria, leading to the disruption of their plasma membrane (6).…”

In Vitro Activity of the Novel Antimicrobial Peptide Dendrimer G3KL against Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

“…This attention is due to their wide spectrum of activity against both Gram-positive and Gramnegative species, potent bactericidal activity, and ability to bypass common mechanisms of resistance that affect standard antibiotics (9,10). However, several reasons have so far limited the clinical implementation of AMPs: (i) high susceptibility to degradation by endogenous and microbial proteases; (ii) toxicity due to the high concentration necessary to inhibit bacteria; and (iii) short half-life because of high protein binding (11).…”

Ci8 short, a novel LPS-induced peptide from the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, modulates responses of the human immune system

“…Marine invertebrates produce a large number of unique and structurally diversified natural products which represent an important source of molecules exhibiting a wide range of bioactivities such as anticancer, antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties (OteroGonzález et al, 2010;Cheung et al, 2015;Suarez-Jimenez et al, 2012). An LPS challenge in Ciona intestinalis induces a CR-APA event encoding for a Ci8 short transcript that is strongly up-regulated in immune cells and present the 3′ UTR mRNA peculiar cis-regulatory elements essential for innate immune responses.…”

“…Many discoveries have been made in the field, but the mechanisms by which the innate immune system can control adaptive immunity remain to be fully clarified. Invertebrates produce a large number of bioactive molecules which have been proven to fulfill important immunological roles such as antibacterial or anticancer activities (Otero-González et al, 2010;Cheung et al, 2015;Suarez-Jimenez et al, 2012). A recent idea is to use invertebrates as a source of molecules with potential immunoregulatory activities to improve strategies for studying human immune system responses (Davis, 2008;Germain and Schwartzberg, 2011).…”