An investigation into the role of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in plant defence

Ubiquitin is a highly conserved regulatory protein that is ubiquitously expressed in eukaryotes. The ubiquitin pathway appears to be more diversified in plants compared to the other organisms. In plants, the ubiquitin-26S proteasome pathway appears to be particularly involved in regulating plant growth, development and defence signalling. This project is concerned with establishing potential involvement of UBP12 and UBP13 in plant defence. The Arabidopsis-Pseudomonas interaction was employed to examine the transcriptional response of AtUBP12 and AtUBP13 during pathogen infection. Furthermore, a transient over expression approach was used to investigate possible gain of function phenotypes associated with NtUBP12 (tobacco homologue of AtUBP12 and AtUBP13) activity during Cf-9 triggered HR in tobacco. The second objective of this study was to identify the interactor of UBP12 by employing a yeast two hybrid screen. The final objective was to analyse the functional significance of the mutant forms of ubiquitin during ubiquitination of target protein. Added to the above-mentioned objectives, this study also details the production of plant anti-ubiquitin antibody. The data presented in this study suggests that UBP12 and UBP13 play a critical role in plant defence. The yeast two hybrid assays showed that DIN1 is the interactor of UBP12. The analysis mutant forms of ubiquitin did not show any considerable difference in the pattern of in vitro ubiquitination compared to the wild type ubiquitin; the probable reasons for this were discussed. The anti-ubiquitin antibody generated in this study was shown to have affinity against plant and human ubiquitin

Prospects and Health Promoting Effects of Brown Algal-derived Natural Pigments

Recently, a great deal of interest has been developed to isolate novel bioactive compounds from marine resources. Among marine resources, marine brown algae are considered valuable sources of structurally diverse bioactive compounds such as chlorophylls and carotenoids. Chlorophyll has been known for its antioxidant activity; meanwhile carotenoid is well known for its anticancer and anti-obesity properties. Therefore, marine brown algal-derived natural pigments have great potential for further development of valuable products in nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical areas. This contribution presents an overview of potential health benefits properties, and prospects of natural pigments derived from marine brown algae. Keywords: Marine algae, natural pigments, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical

Pangan fungsional dan nutrasetikal dari laut: Prospek dan tantangannya

The marine environment is a rich sources of natural bioactive compounds which are not used optimally. It has been established that marine organisms contain a unique physicochemical characteristic that is very valuable to be applied for food industry and pharmaceutical. Recently, numerous study have been shown that compounds extracted from marine organisms possess various biological activities, including anticoagulant, anticancer and hypocholesterolemic. Moreover, fish oil and marine bacteria have been claimed as a source of omega-3 while crustaceans and seaweeds contained carotenoids and phenolic compounds. Based on a variety of biological activities of marine organisms, this review focuses on the potential use of marine-derived compounds as functional food ingredients and nutraceutical including some consideration of barriers for their application.Laut menyimpan sumber bahan fungsional yang relatif belum dimanfaatkan secara optimal. Karakteristik fisikokimianya yang kompleks dan tidak ditemukan pada biota terrestrial,   menjadikan bahan fungsional laut potensial untuk diaplikasikan dalam berbagai aspek seperti pengolahan makanan, pengawetan, fortifikasi dan industri farmasi. Selain itu, banyak penelitian menunjukkan bahwa senyawa yang diekstrak dari biota laut memiliki aktivitas biologis yang beragam. Sebagai contoh, peptida yang diisolasi dari hidrolisat protein ikan serta fucans, galaktan dan alginat dari alga telah terbukti memiliki aktifitas antikoagulan, antikanker dan hipokolesterolemik. Selain itu, minyak ikan dan bakteri laut merupakan sumber yang asam lemak omega-3, sedangkan krustasea dan rumput laut mengandung senyawa antioksidan seperti karotenoid dan senyawa fenolik. Berdasarkan beragam aktifitas bioaktif yang terkandung pada bahan laut, review ini berfokus pada potensi senyawa laut sebagai bahan pangan fungsional dan nutrasetikal sekaligus tantangan dalam pemanfaatannya

PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANTICANCER ACTIVITY OF SEAWEEDS ULVA LACTUCA AND EUCHEUMA COTTONII AGAINST BREAST MCF-7 AND COLON HCT-116 CELLS

Objective: this study is aimed to develop marine resources which is focused on the determination of  phytochemical composition and exploration of seaweeds Ulva Lactuca and Eucheuma cotonii, as a potential  anti-breast cancer and anti-colorectal cancer agents. Methods: Seaweeds Ulva Lactuca collected from Parangtritis beach, Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia. Whereas Eucheuma cottonii collected from Salemo island, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Seaweeds U. lactuca and E. cottonii were macerated in organic solvents, n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol, respectively. After maceration for three days, the mixture was filtered, the filtrate was concentrated by rotary evaporator. The concentrated extract of n-hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and chloroform were then analyzed by thin layer chromatography. Phytochemical test of the concentrated extract were conducted to identify the metabolites containing in the seaweeds. Furthermore, the cytotoxic activity of the n-hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and chloroform extract of Ulva Lactuca and Eucheuma cotonii were evaluated as a growth inhibitor of breast MCF-7 and colorectal HCT-116 cancer cells by MTT cell proliferation assay. Results: Phytochemical test  for the  concentrated extracts of Ulva Lactuca showed the positive result for metabolites of  steroids, glycosides, flavonoid,and tannin. While  the concentrated extracts of E. cottonii showed positive result for metabolites of steroids, glycosides, and flavonoid. Both concentrated extracts of Ulva lactuca and Eucheuma cotonii exhibited anticancer activity against breast MCF-7 and colorectal HCT-116 cells with IC50 ranging of  21 µg/mL  to  99 µg/mL . Conclusion: Our results clearly demonstrate seaweeds Ulva Lactuca and Eucheuma cotonii as a promising candidates for the  new anti-breast and anti-colorectal cancer agents. Keywords: Phytochemistry, Ulva Lactuca, Eucheuma cotonii , anticancer, breast MCF-7, colorectal HCT-11

Neuroprotective Effects of Marine Algae

The marine environment is known as a rich source of chemical structures with numerous beneficial health effects. Among marine organisms, marine algae have been identified as an under-exploited plant resource, although they have long been recognized as valuable sources of structurally diverse bioactive compounds. Presently, several lines of studies have provided insight into biological activities and neuroprotective effects of marine algae including antioxidant, anti-neuroinflammatory, cholinesterase inhibitory activity and the inhibition of neuronal death. Hence, marine algae have great potential to be used for neuroprotection as part of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and functional foods. This contribution presents an overview of marine algal neuroprotective effects and their potential application in neuroprotection

Medicinal and health benefit effects of functional sea cucumbers

Sea cucumbers have long been used as food and traditional medicine in Asian countries with Stichopus hermanni, Thelenota ananas, Thelenota anax, Holothuria fuccogilva, and Actinopyga mauritiana as most highly-valued species. These organisms are potential source of high value-added compounds with therapeutic properties such as triterpene glycosides, carotenoids, bioactive peptides, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, collagens, gelatins, chondroitin sulfates, amino acids. In the recent years, health benefit effects of sea cucumbers have been validated through scientific research and have shown medicinal value such as wound healing, neuroprotective, antitumor, anticoagulant, antimicrobial, and antioxidant. These functional materials lead to potential development in various foods and biomedicine industries. In this review, we have presented a general view of major medicinal and health benefit effects of functional sea cucumbers from Asia region. The structural significance and the potential application of sea cucumber-derived functional materials as well as their nutritional value are also discussed. Keywords: Sea cucumber, Medicinal, Health, Functional, Material

Peptide-derived from Seahorse Exerts a Protective Effect against Cholinergic Neuronal Death in in vitro Model of Alzheimer's Disease

AbstractHippocampus trimaculatus are highly valued and the most heavily traded seahorse species for traditional medicine purposes in many Asian countries. One of the main interesting features in H.trimaculatus is their richness in protein which can be hydrolyzed into bioactive peptides. In the previous study, H. trimaculatus was hydrolyzed using commercial enzymes, the peptides responsible for neuroprotective activity was identified as HTP-1. In the present study, in vitro co-culture system of neuronal (PC12) cells and Aβ42 oligomer-stimulated murine microglia cells (BV2 cells) were used to test neuroprotective effects of HTP-1. The co-culture system showed that HTP-1 protected PC12 cells from BV2 neurotoxic responses. In addition, the activation of PI3K/Akt signaling pathway by HTP-1 were confirmed. The PI3K/Akt activation was found to be mediated through transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) induction by HTP-1. Furthermore, this signaling pathway was found to up-regulate the expression of pro survival protein expression in PC12 cells. Collectively, HTP-1 has potent protective effect against neuronal cells death in in vitro model of Alzheimer's disease

Bioactive Peptide of Marine Origin for the Prevention and Treatment of Non-Communicable Diseases

Non-communicable diseases (NCD) are the leading cause of death and disability worldwide. The four main leading causes of NCD are cardiovascular diseases, cancers, respiratory diseases and diabetes. Recognizing the devastating impact of NCD, novel prevention and treatment strategies are extensively sought. Marine organisms are considered as an important source of bioactive peptides that can exert biological functions to prevent and treatment of NCD. Recent pharmacological investigations reported cardio protective, anticancer, antioxidative, anti-diabetic, and anti-obesity effects of marine-derived bioactive peptides. Moreover, there is available evidence supporting the utilization of marine organisms and its bioactive peptides to alleviate NCD. Marine-derived bioactive peptides are alternative sources for synthetic ingredients that can contribute to a consumer’s well-being, as a part of nutraceuticals and functional foods. This contribution focus on the bioactive peptides derived from marine organisms and elaborates its possible prevention and therapeutic roles in NCD