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Holothuria
About: Holothuria is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 362 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4982 citations.
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TL;DR: In this study, fucoidan was extracted from Holothuria tubulosa, a species of sea cucumber that has recently become commercially important and its chain conformation was elucidated by utilizing high performance size exclusion chromatography combined with multiple angle laser light scattering and viscometry.
52 citations
TL;DR: The finding that brown masses are positive to Schmorl's reaction, suggesting a possible melanin presence is of interest and the coelomocyte lysates are also able to oxidize DOPA, an intermediate product of one melanin synthesis pathway.
52 citations
TL;DR: Findings strongly suggest that the gene expression profile varies among regeneration stages and provide evidence for the existence of differential gene expression.
Abstract: Repair and regeneration are key processes for tissue maintenance, and their disruption may lead to disease states. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underline the repair and regeneration of the digestive tract. The sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima represents an excellent model to dissect and characterize the molecular events during intestinal regeneration. To study the gene expression profile, cDNA libraries were constructed from normal, 3-day, and 7-day regenerating intestines of H. glaberrima. Clones were randomly sequenced and queried against the nonredundant protein database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information. RT-PCR analyses were made of several genes to determine their expression profile during intestinal regeneration. A total of 5,173 sequences from three cDNA libraries were obtained. About 46.2, 35.6, and 26.2% of the sequences for the normal, 3-days, and 7-days cDNA libraries, respectively, shared significant similarity with known sequences in the protein database of GenBank but only present 10% of similarity among them. Analysis of the libraries in terms of functional processes, protein domains, and most common sequences suggests that a differential expression profile is taking place during the regeneration process. Further examination of the expressed sequence tag dataset revealed that 12 putative genes are differentially expressed at significant level (R > 6). Experimental validation by RT-PCR analysis reveals that at least three genes (unknown C-4677-1, melanotransferrin, and centaurin) present a differential expression during regeneration. These findings strongly suggest that the gene expression profile varies among regeneration stages and provide evidence for the existence of differential gene expression.
52 citations
TL;DR: Investigation of aqueous and organic extracts from two sea cucumber species revealed that H. edulis and S. horrens contain promising levels of antioxidant and cytotoxic natural products that might be used for cancer prevention and treatment.
Abstract: Sea cucumbers are marine invertebrates of the phylum of Echinodermata that have been used in Asian traditional medicine since ancient times. This study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant and cytotoxic properties of aqueous and organic extracts from two sea cucumber species, Holothuria edulis Lesson (Holothuriidae) and Stichopus horrens Selenka (Stichopodidae). Antioxidant activities of the extracts were evaluated by DPPH· and β-carotene bleaching assays, while MTT and trypan blue exclusion assays were used to demonstrate the cytotoxic effects of the extracts against two human cancer cell lines, non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549) and esophageal cancer cells (TE1). The results showed that both aqueous and organic extracts of H. edulis were able to scavenge DPH radical (IC50 at 2.04 mg/ml and 8.73 mg/ml, respectively). Aqueous and organic extracts of S. horrens inhibited 79.62% and 46.66% of β-carotene oxidation by linoleate free radical. On the other hand, the organic extract of S. horrens exhibited the highest cytotoxic effects against A549 and TE1 cancer cells giving IC50 at 15.5 and 4.0 μg/ml, respectively. In conclusion, the present study revealed that H. edulis and S. horrens contain promising levels of antioxidant and cytotoxic natural products that might be used for cancer prevention and treatment.
52 citations
TL;DR: The two glycosides were found to exhibit in vitro cytotoxicities similar to or better than those of the potent anticancer drug etoposide against seven different human tumor cells, with IC50 values of 0.37–2.75 μg/ml.
Abstract: A new lanostane-type triterpene glycoside, impatienside A (1), was isolated from the sea cucumber Holothuria impatiens, together with a structurally related, known compound, bivittoside D (2). Their structures were elucidated by in-depth spectroscopic and mass-spectrometric methods, including (1)H-, (13)C-, and 2D-NMR, ESI-MS, and HR-ESI-MS experiments, as well as by chemical evidence. Compounds 1 and 2 possess the same hexasaccharide moieties, but differ slightly in their holostane-type triterpene aglycone. The two glycosides were found to exhibit in vitro cytotoxicities similar to or better than those of the potent anticancer drug etoposide (V-16) against seven different human tumor cells, with IC50 values of 0.37-2.75 microg/ml.
48 citations