Natural Medicinal Compounds from Marine Fungi towards Drug Discovery: A Review

Marine fungi are species of fungi which live in estuaries environment and marine environment. These species are found in common habitat. Marine fungi are rich in antimicrobial compounds such as anthrones, cephalosporins, peptides, steroids. These compounds which are derived mainly focused in the area of anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-fungal, anti-microbial, anti-fouling activity. Bioactive terpene compounds are produced by marine fungi and marine derived fungi can produce sclerotides, trichoderins. Marine fungi have become the richest sources of biologically active metabolites and structurally novel in the marine environment. In a recent study the marine derived fungi dichotomomyces cejpii exhibits activity towards cannabinoid which is used to treat alzheimer dementia. Aspergillus unguis showed significant acetyl cholinesterase besides its anti-oxidant activity. These acts as a promising intent for discovery of pharmaceutically important metabolites like alkaloids, peptides. Computational (in silico) strategies have been developed and broadly applied to pharmacology advancement and testing. This review summarizes the bioactive compounds derived from marine fungi in accordance with the sources and their biological activities

Characterization Studies of Medicinal Plants & I’ts Biological Evaluation Towards Anti-Bacterial Study

The traditional system of medicine proves to be one of the best sources for treating illness and infections. Murraya koenigii (curry leaves) and Asparagus racemosus (shatavari) are the two medicinal plant species that have numerous medicinal properties like antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, etc. In this study, the Ultrasound extraction and the Soxhlet mode of extraction were carried out using two different solvents such as Hexane and Ethyl acetate. Analysis and Retention factor were was carried out thin layer chromatography. The purification was performed using column chromatographic method and the various phytoconstituents such as tannins, terpenoids, carbohydrates, proteins, steroids, flavonoids, phlobatannins were analysed for the extracted samples. Retention factors have been calculated for both the extracted samples and the samples were further processed for sterility test in order to check for any contamination. The extracted samples were characterized using GC-MS analysis. The anti-bacterial evaluation was performed. The highest zone of inhibition found in 1000µg/ml concentration for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 500µg/ml concentration for Staphylococcus aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration for Pseudomonas aeruginosa is predicted as 250µg/ml concentration and for Staphylococcus aureus as 500µg/ml concentration. The rate of kill was higher in 500µg/ml concentration for both bacterial samples. The crystal violet assay was performed and observed the cell viability. Further the In-silico analysis was performed towards the GC analysis compounds and their structure activity relationship were studied towards the protein

Investigating structure–activity relationship and mechanism of action of antitubercular 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-nitrobenzylidene) pyrazolidine-3,5-dione [CD59]

Background and objectives: The objective of this study is to synthesize and evaluate 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-5-nitrobenzylidene) pyrazolidine-3,5-dione (CD59) analogues to establish structure–activity relationship and mechanism of action. Methods: Thirty analogues of reported antitubercular CD59 were prepared by two-step synthetic protocols and characterized. The compounds were evaluated for in vitro activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), cytotoxicity against RAW 264.7 cells. The molecules were also evaluated for three mycobacterial enzymes to study the mechanism of action. Results: Among the compounds, 4-(2-bromobenzylidene)-1-(4-chlorophenyl)pyrazolidine-3,5-dione (4k) was found to be the most active compound in vitro with MICs of 4.13 μM against log-phase culture of MTB and also non-toxic up to 50 μM. Conclusions: Amongst all, the compounds 4g, 3i and 3n were most active against the enzymes MTB Pantothenate synthetase, lysine amino transferase and Alanine dehydrogenase, respectively. Further screening of these molecules was required in the in vitro dormant MTB models