Special Issue "Exploring Marine-Inspired Drugs for New Therapies against Resistant and Metastatic Cancers"

A special issue of Marine Drugs (ISSN 1660-3397). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2023 | Viewed by 947

Special Issue Editors

Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
Interests: marine alkaloids; drug discovery; cancer; anticancer drugs; small molecules kinase inhibitors; biofilm inhibitors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Biological, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (STEBICEF), University of Palermo, Via Archirafi 32, 90123 Palermo, Italy
Interests: marine alkaloids; drug discovery; cancer; anticancer drugs; small molecules kinase inhibitors; biofilm inhibitors
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Resistant cancer poses a significant challenge in modern oncology, limiting the effectiveness of traditional therapies and reducing patient survival rates. In the quest for novel treatment strategies, the remarkable biodiversity of marine ecosystems offers a vast and largely untapped resource. Marine organisms have developed unique defense mechanisms to survive in extreme conditions, often relying on complex bioactive compounds. These compounds have shown promise in overcoming cancer resistance, making marine-inspired drugs a compelling area of research. Through their diverse chemical structures and mechanisms of action, marine-inspired drugs have demonstrated the ability to target drug-resistant cancer cells and disrupt key signaling pathways involved in treatment resistance. By harnessing the power of the ocean's natural pharmacy, innovative therapies could be developed, overcoming resistance and providing new avenues of hope for patients facing resistant cancers.

As Guest Editors for this Special Issue, entitled “Exploring Marine-Inspired Drugs for New Therapies against Resistant and Metastatic Cancers”, we are pleased to invite all academic and industry researchers working in this field to submit reviews or original articles highlighting the biological activities of known, novel, or marine-derived compounds with potential tumor-suppression effects on highly aggressive and resistant cancer cells.

Dr. Daniela Carbone
Dr. Camilla Pecoraro
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • resistant cancer
  • drug discovery
  • marine-derived compounds
  • drug resistance
  • anti-tumor activity
  • targeted therapies
  • therapeutic drugs
  • heterocyclic compounds
  • metastatic cancer

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

20 pages, 3356 KiB  
Article
1,3,4-Oxadiazole and 1,3,4-Thiadiazole Nortopsentin Derivatives against Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma: Synthesis, Cytotoxic Activity, and Inhibition of CDK1
Mar. Drugs 2023, 21(7), 412; https://doi.org/10.3390/md21070412 - 19 Jul 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 919
Abstract
A new series of nortopsentin analogs, in which the central imidazole ring of the natural lead was replaced by a 1,3,4-oxadiazole or 1,3,4-thiadiazole moiety, was efficiently synthesized. The antiproliferative activity of all synthesized derivatives was evaluated against five pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell [...] Read more.
A new series of nortopsentin analogs, in which the central imidazole ring of the natural lead was replaced by a 1,3,4-oxadiazole or 1,3,4-thiadiazole moiety, was efficiently synthesized. The antiproliferative activity of all synthesized derivatives was evaluated against five pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cell lines, a primary culture and a gemcitabine-resistant variant. The five more potent compounds elicited EC50 values in the submicromolar–micromolar range, associated with a significant reduction in cell migration. Moreover, flow cytometric analysis after propidium iodide staining revealed an increase in the G2-M and a decrease in G1-phase, indicating cell cycle arrest, while a specific ELISA demonstrated the inhibition of CDK1 activity, a crucial regulator of cell cycle progression and cancer cell proliferation. Full article
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop