Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have risen drastically after the COVID era as post-COVID symptoms. “Nattokinase” (NK), the thrombolytic enzyme, is known for its substrate-specific thrombolytic, protease, and fibrinolytic activity to ameliorate CVDs. Primarily, NK was isolated from Bacillus subtilis natto using either solid- or liquid-state fermentation technology. Later, the researchers studied the arpN gene, which encodes NK and is used in various biotechnological approaches with different hosts such as Bacillus spp., Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus spp., and Pichia pastoris. The global market potential of NK in treating CVDs has recently garnered attention, leading to a demand for bulk production and ultrapure forms of NK. This demand has put pressure on strain improvements and innovation in production technology. The patent scenario suggested that NK have been given more attention with 763 patents compared to streptokinase, staphylokinase and serratiopeptidase. This review critically examined the biotechnological aspects of NK in amelioration of CVDs, focusing on current production technologies, strain improvement strategies, protected NK innovations, and future research directions. It emphasizes the need for advanced approaches like CRISPR technology and novel production protocols to develop high-quality, ultrapure NK. It is also aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: “Good Health and Well-Being.”
{"title":"Multifaceted microbial enzyme nattokinase: a comprehensive review on therapeutics applications, production technologies and intellectual property landscape","authors":"Tirth Chetankumar Bhatt , Viralkumar B. Mandaliya , Munir Ibrahim , Avani Bhimani , Asmita Detroja , Jaykumar Koradiya , Gaurav Sanghvi , Ashok Kumar Bishoyi","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100316","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100316","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have risen drastically after the COVID era as post-COVID symptoms. “Nattokinase” (NK), the thrombolytic enzyme, is known for its substrate-specific thrombolytic, protease, and fibrinolytic activity to ameliorate CVDs. Primarily, NK was isolated from <em>Bacillus subtilis natto</em> using either solid- or liquid-state fermentation technology. Later, the researchers studied the <em>arpN</em> gene, which encodes NK and is used in various biotechnological approaches with different hosts such as <em>Bacillus</em> spp., <em>Escherichia coli</em>, <em>Lactobacillus</em> spp., and <em>Pichia pastoris</em>. The global market potential of NK in treating CVDs has recently garnered attention, leading to a demand for bulk production and ultrapure forms of NK. This demand has put pressure on strain improvements and innovation in production technology. The patent scenario suggested that NK have been given more attention with 763 patents compared to streptokinase, staphylokinase and serratiopeptidase. This review critically examined the biotechnological aspects of NK in amelioration of CVDs, focusing on current production technologies, strain improvement strategies, protected NK innovations, and future research directions. It emphasizes the need for advanced approaches like CRISPR technology and novel production protocols to develop high-quality, ultrapure NK. It is also aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: “Good Health and Well-Being.”</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100316"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144655692","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100345
Shefali Thanta , Garima Bhanwala , Neetika Kimta , Vishnu D. Rajput , Tabarak Malik
Growing global food demand and stagnant yields caused by nutrient inefficiencies threaten sustainable agriculture. Conventional chemical fertilizers, while increasing crop productivity, often alters soil physicochemical and biological properties and cause environmental damage, highlighting a critical gap in sustainable crop nutrition. Moreover, conventional application methods are causing chemical overdosing, leading to eutrophication, nitrogen volatilization, and progressive release of greenhouse gases. In contrast, nanotechnology provides a groundbreaking solution. Nano-fertilizers (NFs) serve as concentrated sources of plant nutrients, encapsulated in nanomaterials that easily pass through stomata and root hairs, and penetrate deeper into plant tissues. This significantly decreases nutrient loss, enhances nutrient efficiency, thereby boosting plant productivity. The green synthesis of NFs uses eco-friendly plant extracts as reducing agents, and their high solubility allows for easy foliar and root application. This review offers a structured evaluation of the potential for green-synthesized NFs as effective, environmentally friendly alternatives. Green NFs significantly boost crop yields compared to conventional chemical fertilizers, while also helping to mitigate plant stress caused by biotic and abiotic factors. Furthermore, with additional long-term research, commercial scaling, and regulatory support, green NFs could transform fertilization practices. Moreover, this also provides strategic insights to address nutrient use inefficiencies and promote a more sustainable ecosystem.
{"title":"Green-synthesized nano-fertilizers: a sustainable approach to enhancing crop productivity and stress tolerance","authors":"Shefali Thanta , Garima Bhanwala , Neetika Kimta , Vishnu D. Rajput , Tabarak Malik","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100345","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100345","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Growing global food demand and stagnant yields caused by nutrient inefficiencies threaten sustainable agriculture. Conventional chemical fertilizers, while increasing crop productivity, often alters soil physicochemical and biological properties and cause environmental damage, highlighting a critical gap in sustainable crop nutrition. Moreover, conventional application methods are causing chemical overdosing, leading to eutrophication, nitrogen volatilization, and progressive release of greenhouse gases. In contrast, nanotechnology provides a groundbreaking solution. Nano-fertilizers<!--> <!-->(NFs) serve as concentrated sources of plant nutrients, encapsulated in nanomaterials that easily pass through stomata and root hairs, and penetrate deeper into plant tissues. This significantly decreases nutrient loss, enhances nutrient efficiency, thereby boosting plant productivity. The green synthesis of NFs uses eco-friendly plant extracts as reducing agents, and their high solubility allows for easy foliar and root application. This review offers a structured evaluation of the potential for green-synthesized NFs as effective, environmentally friendly alternatives. Green NFs significantly boost crop yields compared to conventional chemical fertilizers, while also helping to mitigate plant stress caused by biotic and abiotic factors. Furthermore, with additional long-term research, commercial scaling, and regulatory support, green NFs could transform fertilization practices. Moreover, this also provides strategic insights to address nutrient use inefficiencies and promote a more sustainable ecosystem.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100345"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145361514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100280
Joanna Bensz , Dariusz Sołdacki , Zilin Ma , Farhan Bin Matin , Maima Matin , Atanas G. Atanasov
As social media platforms continue to play an increasingly significant role in shaping public discourse and disseminating scientific information, understanding how longevity and aging-related topics are discussed online has become crucial for researchers and healthcare professionals. This study investigates the global discourse on longevity and aging through the analysis of the hashtag #Longevity on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) over a six-year period from August 1, 2018, to August 1, 2024. A total of 382 032 posts were shared by 109 935 users across 200 countries. The analysis focused on revealing key themes, geographical distribution, sentiment analysis, and the most frequently mentioned supplements and drugs related to longevity. The results show a high level of engagement with the hashtag, primarily driven by users from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and Canada. Sentiment analysis revealed predominantly positive attitudes towards longevity-related topics, with a slight but statistically significant (p < 0.0001) decline during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study identified nicotinamide mononucleotide, rapamycin, and green tea as the most frequently mentioned supplements or drugs in longevity discussions. Notably, there was a significant increase in discussions about niacin derivatives, particularly nicotinamide mononucleotide, during and after the pandemic period. This study highlights the importance of social media as a tool for gauging public interest and sentiment towards scientific topics like longevity, providing valuable insights for researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to enhance science communication and public engagement.
{"title":"Insights from antiaging-related X discussions: A six-year #Longevity hashtag analysis study","authors":"Joanna Bensz , Dariusz Sołdacki , Zilin Ma , Farhan Bin Matin , Maima Matin , Atanas G. Atanasov","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100280","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100280","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As social media platforms continue to play an increasingly significant role in shaping public discourse and disseminating scientific information, understanding how longevity and aging-related topics are discussed online has become crucial for researchers and healthcare professionals. This study investigates the global discourse on longevity and aging through the analysis of the hashtag #Longevity on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) over a six-year period from August 1, 2018, to August 1, 2024. A total of 382 032 posts were shared by 109 935 users across 200 countries. The analysis focused on revealing key themes, geographical distribution, sentiment analysis, and the most frequently mentioned supplements and drugs related to longevity. The results show a high level of engagement with the hashtag, primarily driven by users from the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and Canada. Sentiment analysis revealed predominantly positive attitudes towards longevity-related topics, with a slight but statistically significant (p < 0.0001) decline during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The study identified nicotinamide mononucleotide, rapamycin, and green tea as the most frequently mentioned supplements or drugs in longevity discussions. Notably, there was a significant increase in discussions about niacin derivatives, particularly nicotinamide mononucleotide, during and after the pandemic period. This study highlights the importance of social media as a tool for gauging public interest and sentiment towards scientific topics like longevity, providing valuable insights for researchers, healthcare professionals, and policymakers to enhance science communication and public engagement.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100280"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143548276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100273
O. Bortone , S. Fiorenza , M. Baldassarre , N. Falco , M. Amidi , T. Markkula , P.A. Netti , E. Torino
Therapeutic proteins have great potentialities for the care of a wide spectrum of diseases, for which other small synthetic drugs result ineffective. Due to challenges related to their immunogenicity, the journey of biologics into clinics still faces obstacles. Among the causes of protein immunogenicity, their natural propensity to aggregation is crucial, indeed, to study their stability, pharmaceutical formulations are generally exposed to diverse environmental physicochemical conditions. Traditional approaches to explore protein behavior are effort-demanding, lengthy and expensive, resulting in a limited knowledge of biomolecule stability. There is an urgent need to develop faster and more cost-effective technologies for biological formulation development. In this work, the conceptualization, design and implementation of a modular and automated microfluidic platform to provide thermal stress to highly concentrated and viscous pharmaceutical formulations is presented. The microfluidic platform validity in terms of reliability and comparability to a forced degradation batch-wise stimulation is demonstrated by thermally stimulating and analyzing through SE-HPLC (Size Exclusion – High Performance Liquid Chromatography) different high concentration (> 100 mg/ml) therapeutic nanobody-based formulations. Remarkably, the ranking of the formulations returned by the microfluidic thermal stress platform follows the same trend obtained through well-established industrial in-batch stimulations. Furthermore, data coming from microfluidic stimulations well correlates to outcomes coming from industrial methodologies for storage and accelerated stability studies.
{"title":"Design of a thermal stress microfluidic platform to screen stability of therapeutic proteins in pharmaceutical formulations","authors":"O. Bortone , S. Fiorenza , M. Baldassarre , N. Falco , M. Amidi , T. Markkula , P.A. Netti , E. Torino","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100273","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100273","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Therapeutic proteins have great potentialities for the care of a wide spectrum of diseases, for which other small synthetic drugs result ineffective. Due to challenges related to their immunogenicity, the journey of biologics into clinics still faces obstacles. Among the causes of protein immunogenicity, their natural propensity to aggregation is crucial, indeed, to study their stability, pharmaceutical formulations are generally exposed to diverse environmental physicochemical conditions. Traditional approaches to explore protein behavior are effort-demanding, lengthy and expensive, resulting in a limited knowledge of biomolecule stability. There is an urgent need to develop faster and more cost-effective technologies for biological formulation development. In this work, the conceptualization, design and implementation of a modular and automated microfluidic platform to provide thermal stress to highly concentrated and viscous pharmaceutical formulations is presented. The microfluidic platform validity in terms of reliability and comparability to a forced degradation batch-wise stimulation is demonstrated by thermally stimulating and analyzing through SE-HPLC (Size Exclusion – High Performance Liquid Chromatography) different high concentration (> 100 mg/ml) therapeutic nanobody-based formulations. Remarkably, the ranking of the formulations returned by the microfluidic thermal stress platform follows the same trend obtained through well-established industrial in-batch stimulations. Furthermore, data coming from microfluidic stimulations well correlates to outcomes coming from industrial methodologies for storage and accelerated stability studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100273"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143136460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100294
David Vorländer, Kristin Hoffmann, Katrin Dohnt
The intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in human health and disease, and is therefore of great interest in various research areas. However, studies with humans are limited and difficult to control, leading to a growing demand for sophisticated bioreactor systems that can mimic human intestinal conditions in vitro. The main objective of this study is to compare the in vitro growth of a defined microbiota in the recently published PEristaltic mixed Tubular bioReactor (PETR) with previously published in vivo data for the same microbiota. PETR simulates various colonic conditions, including peristaltic mixing, dialytic water and metabolite removal, and a temporally constant and longitudinally progressive pH gradient in a continuously operated tubular bioreactor. The Oligo-Mouse-Microbiota OMM12 was chosen as model microbiota and consists of 12 bacteria representing the major phyla of the mouse intestine. During 10 d continuous cultivation in PETR, community composition was regularly analyzed using strain-specific qPCR. The results were consistent with the formation of organic acids measured by HPLC. After approximately 6 d, the optical density, concentrations of organic acids, and the microbiota composition remained relatively stable. Despite the different intestinal conditions of humans and mice, several similarities between reactor cultivation and gnotobiotic mouse model confirm PETR as a suitable system for microbiota research.
{"title":"Cultivation of the Oligo-Mouse-Microbiota OMM12 in the peristaltic mixed tubular bioreactor PETR","authors":"David Vorländer, Kristin Hoffmann, Katrin Dohnt","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100294","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100294","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The intestinal microbiota plays a crucial role in human health and disease, and is therefore of great interest in various research areas. However, studies with humans are limited and difficult to control, leading to a growing demand for sophisticated bioreactor systems that can mimic human intestinal conditions <em>in vitro</em>. The main objective of this study is to compare the <em>in vitro</em> growth of a defined microbiota in the recently published PEristaltic mixed Tubular bioReactor (PETR) with previously published <em>in vivo</em> data for the same microbiota. PETR simulates various colonic conditions, including peristaltic mixing, dialytic water and metabolite removal, and a temporally constant and longitudinally progressive pH gradient in a continuously operated tubular bioreactor. The Oligo-Mouse-Microbiota OMM<sup>12</sup> was chosen as model microbiota and consists of 12 bacteria representing the major phyla of the mouse intestine. During 10<!--> <!-->d continuous cultivation in PETR, community composition was regularly analyzed using strain-specific qPCR. The results were consistent with the formation of organic acids measured by HPLC. After approximately 6<!--> <!-->d, the optical density, concentrations of organic acids, and the microbiota composition remained relatively stable. Despite the different intestinal conditions of humans and mice, several similarities between reactor cultivation and gnotobiotic mouse model confirm PETR as a suitable system for microbiota research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100294"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143907644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100282
Rajeev K. Singla , Himel Mondal , Shailja Singla , Ronita De , Sahar Behzad , Mihnea-Alexandru Găman , Siva Sai Chandragiri , Merisa Cenanovic , Jayanta Kumar Patra , Jennifer R. Depew , Hemanth Kumar Boyina , Abdulkadir Yusif Maigoro , Soojin Lee , Omar M. Atrooz , Gitishree Das , Fabien Schultz , Emad Mohamed Abdallah , Hitesh Chopra , Jamil Ahmad , Rupesh K. Gautam , Bairong Shen
Background
Respiratory tract infections are a common health issue, driving interest in preventive strategies like nutritional supplements, while evidence on their usage and effectiveness remains limited. In this context, social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), provide a unique opportunity to gather large-scale public health-related data.
Objectives
In this study, we aimed to survey participants’ uses and opinions on nutritional supplements in prevention or treatment of respiratory tract infections, by using X.
Methods
A survey was conducted between 1st and 15th December 2022. A single open-ended question “Which are the best dietary supplements to counteract respiratory infections?“ was asked. One week after the start of the survey, a poll was posted to get more relevant information and boost the survey’s reach. Total endorsements were calculated for each tweet posted as the total sum of replies, retweets, and likes.
Results
The open-ended question received a total of 118 retweets, 39 quotes, and 371 likes, while the poll received 56 retweets, 13 quotes, and 67 likes. A total of 495 replies, 2,251 retweets, 5,118 likes, and 148 quotes were received for the question and its related tweets. Vitamin D (1,607 endorsements), zinc (1,347 endorsements), vitamin C (803 endorsements), magnesium (694 endorsements), and honey (661 endorsements) were the nutritional supplements that received most endorsements.
Conclusion
Various foods, drinks, and natural ingredients have been suggested as potentially helpful for counteracting respiratory infections. Approximately half of respondents indicated using such supplements for themselves. The result of this study supports the idea that the X platform can be used as an effective survey tool to study global health-related behaviours and trends.
{"title":"Exploring nutritional supplement use for countering respiratory tract infections through an X (formerly Twitter)-based survey","authors":"Rajeev K. Singla , Himel Mondal , Shailja Singla , Ronita De , Sahar Behzad , Mihnea-Alexandru Găman , Siva Sai Chandragiri , Merisa Cenanovic , Jayanta Kumar Patra , Jennifer R. Depew , Hemanth Kumar Boyina , Abdulkadir Yusif Maigoro , Soojin Lee , Omar M. Atrooz , Gitishree Das , Fabien Schultz , Emad Mohamed Abdallah , Hitesh Chopra , Jamil Ahmad , Rupesh K. Gautam , Bairong Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100282","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100282","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Respiratory tract infections are a common health issue, driving interest in preventive strategies like nutritional supplements, while evidence on their usage and effectiveness remains limited. In this context, social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), provide a unique opportunity to gather large-scale public health-related data.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>In this study, we aimed to survey participants’ uses and opinions on nutritional supplements in prevention or treatment of respiratory tract infections, by using X.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>A survey was conducted between 1st and 15th December 2022. A single open-ended question “Which are the best dietary supplements to counteract respiratory infections?“ was asked. One week after the start of the survey, a poll was posted to get more relevant information and boost the survey’s reach. Total endorsements were calculated for each tweet posted as the total sum of replies, retweets, and likes.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The open-ended question received a total of 118 retweets, 39 quotes, and 371 likes, while the poll received 56 retweets, 13 quotes, and 67 likes. A total of 495 replies, 2,251 retweets, 5,118 likes, and 148 quotes were received for the question and its related tweets. Vitamin D (1,607 endorsements), zinc (1,347 endorsements), vitamin C (803 endorsements), magnesium (694 endorsements), and honey (661 endorsements) were the nutritional supplements that received most endorsements.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Various foods, drinks, and natural ingredients have been suggested as potentially helpful for counteracting respiratory infections. Approximately half of respondents indicated using such supplements for themselves. The result of this study supports the idea that the X platform can be used as an effective survey tool to study global health-related behaviours and trends.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100282"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143935131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100336
Amin Tamadon , Fatemeh Mirzaei , Nadiar M. Mussin , Kulyash R. Zhilisbayeva , Ramazon Safarzoda Sharoffidin
Marine natural products have long provided scaffolds for cancer drug discovery, with several mollusk-derived compounds such as dolastatins and Kahalalide F (C6) progressing into clinical evaluation. Marine heterobranch mollusks, in particular, produce or sequester structurally diverse metabolites that have attracted interest for their potent and selective anticancer activities. This comprehensive review highlights the diverse chemical classes of mollusk-derived metabolites, including terpenoids, alkaloids, and peptides, and their mechanisms of action, such as cytoskeletal disruption, DNA damage induction, and oxidative stress-mediated apoptosis. Notably, some compounds are selectively toxic to cancer cells by exploiting elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Emerging evidence indicates that methylthioadenosine analogs and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs (C12)) can modulate DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), suggesting new avenues for epigenetic cancer therapy. Despite challenges in sustainable sourcing, advancements in synthesis and drug delivery systems, including liposomal formulations, enhance their clinical translatability. This review underscores the potential of marine mollusk-derived compounds as innovative anticancer agents, emphasizing their unique mechanisms and therapeutic promise.
海洋天然产物长期以来为癌症药物的发现提供了支架，一些软体动物衍生的化合物，如dolastatin和Kahalalide F （C6）已进入临床评估。特别是海洋异支软体动物，它们产生或封存结构多样的代谢物，这些代谢物因其有效和选择性的抗癌活性而引起人们的兴趣。这篇综合综述强调了软体动物衍生代谢物的不同化学类别，包括萜类、生物碱和肽，以及它们的作用机制，如细胞骨架破坏、DNA损伤诱导和氧化应激介导的细胞凋亡。值得注意的是，一些化合物通过利用升高的活性氧（ROS）和内质网（ER）应激选择性地对癌细胞产生毒性。新的证据表明，甲基硫代腺苷类似物和多不饱和脂肪酸（PUFAs (C12)）可以调节DNA甲基转移酶（dnmt）和组蛋白去乙酰化酶（hdac），为表观遗传癌症治疗提供了新的途径。尽管在可持续采购方面存在挑战，但合成和药物输送系统（包括脂质体制剂）的进步增强了它们的临床可翻译性。本文综述了海洋软体动物衍生化合物作为创新抗癌药物的潜力，强调了它们独特的机制和治疗前景。
{"title":"Marine heterobranch mollusks-derived anticancer compounds with epigenetic mechanisms: a comprehensive review","authors":"Amin Tamadon , Fatemeh Mirzaei , Nadiar M. Mussin , Kulyash R. Zhilisbayeva , Ramazon Safarzoda Sharoffidin","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100336","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100336","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Marine natural products have long provided scaffolds for cancer drug discovery, with several mollusk-derived compounds such as dolastatins and Kahalalide F (C6) progressing into clinical evaluation. Marine heterobranch mollusks, in particular, produce or sequester structurally diverse metabolites that have attracted interest for their potent and selective anticancer activities. This comprehensive review highlights the diverse chemical classes of mollusk-derived metabolites, including terpenoids, alkaloids, and peptides, and their mechanisms of action, such as cytoskeletal disruption, DNA damage induction, and oxidative stress-mediated apoptosis. Notably, some compounds are selectively toxic to cancer cells by exploiting elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Emerging evidence indicates that methylthioadenosine analogs and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs (C12)) can modulate DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs), suggesting new avenues for epigenetic cancer therapy. Despite challenges in sustainable sourcing, advancements in synthesis and drug delivery systems, including liposomal formulations, enhance their clinical translatability. This review underscores the potential of marine mollusk-derived compounds as innovative anticancer agents, emphasizing their unique mechanisms and therapeutic promise.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100336"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145264861","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100349
Bilel Damergi , Rym Essid , Nadia Fares , Selim Jallouli , Islem Abid , Muhammad Naveed Umar , Ferid Limam , Mohamed Mousli , Olfa Tabbene
Chronic inflammation plays a central role in the onset of degenerative and metabolic diseases, and the adverse side effects associated with conventional therapies highlight the urgent need to develop safer and more effective natural alternatives. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory potential of Cinnamomum (C.) verum and Thymus (T.) capitatus essential oils (EOs), individually and in combination. C. verum exhibited strong radical scavenging activity and potent anti-inflammatory effect in LPS- stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. When combined with T. capitatus, the EOs displayed synergistic interaction, resulting in 5.78 and 3.71 − fold enhancement of the anti-inflammatory potency and improvement of the selectivity indices to 4.9 and 2, respectively compared with their individual effects. The combination significantly downregulated COX-2 and iNOS gene expression by 87.42 % and 87.93 %, respectively, and nearly abolished TBK1 expression (99.2 % inhibition). Molecular docking studies confirmed complementary mechanisms of action, showing that carvacrol enhances the activity of cinnamaldehyde by exerting stronger inhibition of COX-2 and iNOS, while cinnamaldehyde additionally targets TBK1. These findings provide scientific evidence supporting the traditional use of C. verum and T. capitatus EOs as natural food additives and highlight their synergistic potential as safe and effective alternatives to synthetic anti-inflammatory agents, with promising application in functional foods and therapeutic formulations.
{"title":"Synergistic anti-inflammatory potential of Cinnamomum verum and Thymus capitatus essential oils: Mechanism of action and molecular docking studies","authors":"Bilel Damergi , Rym Essid , Nadia Fares , Selim Jallouli , Islem Abid , Muhammad Naveed Umar , Ferid Limam , Mohamed Mousli , Olfa Tabbene","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100349","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100349","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chronic inflammation plays a central role in the onset of degenerative and metabolic diseases, and the adverse side effects associated with conventional therapies highlight the urgent need to develop safer and more effective natural alternatives. This study investigated the anti-inflammatory potential of <em>Cinnamomum (C.) verum</em> and <em>Thymus (T.) capitatus</em> essential oils (EOs), individually and in combination. <em>C. verum</em> exhibited strong radical scavenging activity and potent anti-inflammatory effect in LPS- stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. When combined with <em>T. capitatus,</em> the EOs displayed synergistic interaction, resulting in 5.78 and 3.71 − fold enhancement of the anti-inflammatory potency and improvement of the selectivity indices to 4.9 and 2, respectively compared with their individual effects. The combination significantly downregulated <em>COX-2</em> and <em>iNOS</em> gene expression by 87.42 % and 87.93 %, respectively, and nearly abolished <em>TBK1</em> expression (99.2 % inhibition). Molecular docking studies confirmed complementary mechanisms of action, showing that carvacrol enhances the activity of cinnamaldehyde by exerting stronger inhibition of COX-2 and iNOS, while cinnamaldehyde additionally targets TBK1. These findings provide scientific evidence supporting the traditional use of <em>C. verum</em> and <em>T. capitatus</em> EOs as natural food additives and highlight their synergistic potential as safe and effective alternatives to synthetic anti-inflammatory agents, with promising application in functional foods and therapeutic formulations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100349"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145519056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100323
Nikolay T. Tzvetkov, Atanas G. Atanasov
{"title":"Peptides as a leading class therapeutic agents: future and challenges","authors":"Nikolay T. Tzvetkov, Atanas G. Atanasov","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100323","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100323","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"10 ","pages":"Article 100323"},"PeriodicalIF":4.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144879193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100277
Marcus V.M.V. Amaral , Cláudia B. Carraro , Amanda C.C. Antoniêto , Mariana N. Costa , Thais F.C. Fraga-Silva , Ualter G. Cipriano , Rodrigo P.F. Abuná , Tamara S. Rodrigues , Ronaldo B. Martins , Andreia M. Luzenti , Glaucia R. Caruso , Priscyla D. Marcato , Vania L.D. Bonato , Dario S. Zamboni , Bergman M. Ribeiro , Sônia N. Báo , Joao S. da Silva , Flávio P. Veras , Roberto N. Silva
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), posed a significant global health challenge and still demands efforts to develop new therapies. In this study, we investigated the potential of biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by the fungus Trichoderma reesei to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection. In silico studies showed that AgNPs, ranging from 7 nm to 50 nm, have high affinity for spike protein from different variant of SARS-CoV-2. Our findings show that AgNPs effectively do not affect cell viability in Calu-3 cells, inhibit viral infection in Vero-E6 cells and progression of infection in vitro. Additionally, AgNPs impair caspase-1 activation, lactate dehydrogenase release and IL-1β production by human monocytes. Moreover, our study reveals that AgNPs treatment significantly alleviated acute lung injury induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection in Syrian hamsters. This suggests that AgNPs treatment effectively impairs viral replication or propagation within lung tissue, highlighting its potential as an antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of action of AgNPs and to assess their safety and efficacy in clinical settings. Nonetheless, our findings offer promising insights into the development of novel therapeutic strategies for combating COVID-19 and reducing its associated morbidity and mortality.
{"title":"Biogenic silver nanoparticles produced by Trichoderma reesei inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection, reduce lung viral load and ameliorate acute pulmonary inflammation","authors":"Marcus V.M.V. Amaral , Cláudia B. Carraro , Amanda C.C. Antoniêto , Mariana N. Costa , Thais F.C. Fraga-Silva , Ualter G. Cipriano , Rodrigo P.F. Abuná , Tamara S. Rodrigues , Ronaldo B. Martins , Andreia M. Luzenti , Glaucia R. Caruso , Priscyla D. Marcato , Vania L.D. Bonato , Dario S. Zamboni , Bergman M. Ribeiro , Sônia N. Báo , Joao S. da Silva , Flávio P. Veras , Roberto N. Silva","doi":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100277","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.crbiot.2025.100277","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), posed a significant global health challenge and still demands efforts to develop new therapies. In this study, we investigated the potential of biogenic silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by the fungus <em>Trichoderma reesei</em> to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection. In silico studies showed that AgNPs, ranging from 7 nm to 50 nm, have high affinity for spike protein from different variant of SARS-CoV-2. Our findings show that AgNPs effectively do not affect cell viability in Calu-3 cells, inhibit viral infection in Vero-E6 cells and progression of infection <em>in vitro</em>. Additionally, AgNPs impair caspase-1 activation, lactate dehydrogenase release and IL-1β production by human monocytes. Moreover, our study reveals that AgNPs treatment significantly alleviated acute lung injury induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection in Syrian hamsters. This suggests that AgNPs treatment effectively impairs viral replication or propagation within lung tissue, highlighting its potential as an antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2. Further investigations are warranted to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of action of AgNPs and to assess their safety and efficacy in clinical settings. Nonetheless, our findings offer promising insights into the development of novel therapeutic strategies for combating COVID-19 and reducing its associated morbidity and mortality.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":52676,"journal":{"name":"Current Research in Biotechnology","volume":"9 ","pages":"Article 100277"},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143372916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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