Marine Anthraquinones: Pharmacological and Toxicological Issues

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Abstract

The marine ecosystem, populated by a myriad of animals, plants, and microorganisms, is an inexhaustible reservoir of pharmacologically active molecules. Among the multiple secondary metabolites produced by marine sources, there are anthraquinones and their derivatives. Besides being mainly known to be produced by terrestrial species, even marine organisms and the uncountable kingdom of marine microorganisms biosynthesize anthraquinones. Anthraquinones possess many different biological activities, including a remarkable antitumor activity. However, due to their peculiar chemical structures, anthraquinones are often associated with toxicological issues, even relevant, such as genotoxicity and mutagenicity. The aim of this review is to critically describe the anticancer potential of anthraquinones derived from marine sources and their genotoxic and mutagenic potential. Marine-derived anthraquinones show a promising anticancer potential, although clinical studies are missing. Additionally, an in-depth investigation of their toxicological profile is needed before advocating anthraquinones as a therapeutic armamentarium in the oncological area.

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Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018

Lorenzo Galluzzi, Ilio Vitale, Stuart A. Aaronson … (2018)

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field.

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Cell death: a review of the major forms of apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy

Mark D’Arcy (2019)

Cell death was once believed to be the result of one of two distinct processes, apoptosis (also known as programmed cell death) or necrosis (uncontrolled cell death); in recent years, however, several other forms of cell death have been discovered highlighting that a cell can die via a number of differing pathways. Apoptosis is characterised by a number of characteristic morphological changes in the structure of the cell, together with a number of enzyme-dependent biochemical processes. The result being the clearance of cells from the body, with minimal damage to surrounding tissues. Necrosis, however, is generally characterised to be the uncontrolled death of the cell, usually following a severe insult, resulting in spillage of the contents of the cell into surrounding tissues and subsequent damage thereof. Failure of apoptosis and the resultant accumulation of damaged cells in the body can result in various forms of cancer. An understanding of the pathways is therefore important in developing efficient chemotherapeutics. It has recently become clear that there exists a number of subtypes of apoptosis and that there is an overlap between apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy. The goal of this review is to provide a general overview of the current knowledge relating to the various forms of cell death, including apoptosis, necrosis, oncosis, pyroptosis and autophagy. This will provide researchers with a summary of the major forms of cell death and allow them to compare and contrast between them.

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gammaH2AX: a sensitive molecular marker of DNA damage and repair.

L-J Mah, A. El-Osta, T Karagiannis (2010)

Phosphorylation of the Ser-139 residue of the histone variant H2AX, forming gammaH2AX, is an early cellular response to the induction of DNA double-strand breaks. Detection of this phosphorylation event has emerged as a highly specific and sensitive molecular marker for monitoring DNA damage initiation and resolution. Further, analysis of gammaH2AX foci has numerous other applications including, but not limited to, cancer and aging research. Quantitation of gammaH2AX foci has also been applied as a useful tool for the evaluation of the efficacy of various developmental drugs, particularly, radiation modifying compounds. This review focuses on the current status of gammaH2AX as a marker of DNA damage and repair in the context of ionizing radiation. Although the emphasis is on gamma-radiation-induced gammaH2AX foci, the effects of other genotoxic insults including exposure to ultraviolet rays, oxidative stress and chemical agents are also discussed.

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Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Mar Drugs

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Mar Drugs

Journal ID (publisher-id): marinedrugs

Title: Marine Drugs

Publisher: MDPI

ISSN (Electronic): 1660-3397

Publication date (Electronic): 13 May 2021

Publication date Collection: May 2021

Volume: 19

Issue: 5

Electronic Location Identifier: 272

Affiliations

Department for Life Quality Studies, Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna, Corso d’Augusto 237, 47921 Rimini, Italy; giulia.greco9@ 123456unibo.it (G.G.); eleonora.turrini@ 123456unibo.it (E.T.); elena.catanzaro2@ 123456unibo.it (E.C.)

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[* ]Correspondence: carmela.fimognari@ 123456unibo.it ; Tel.: +39-05-4143-4658

Author information

Giulia Greco https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8174-9977

Eleonora Turrini https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4743-1126

Elena Catanzaro https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7699-3414

Carmela Fimognari https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2461-8214

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Publisher ID: marinedrugs-19-00272

DOI: 10.3390/md19050272

PMC ID: 8152984

PubMed ID: 34068184

SO-VID: 71273817-697b-43bb-80c1-41e147cef684

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Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Marine Anthraquinones: Pharmacological and Toxicological Issues

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Microbiology Independent Research Journal (MIR Journal)

Most cited references 186

Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018

Cell death: a review of the major forms of apoptosis, necrosis and autophagy

gammaH2AX: a sensitive molecular marker of DNA damage and repair.

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