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Review
. 2019 Jul 23;17(7):428.
doi: 10.3390/md17070428.

Prostaglandins in Marine Organisms: A Review

Federica Di Costanzo  1 , Valeria Di Dato  2 , Adrianna Ianora  1 , Giovanna Romano  1
Affiliations
Review

Prostaglandins in Marine Organisms: A Review

Federica Di Costanzo et al. Mar Drugs. .

Abstract

Prostaglandins (PGs) are lipid mediators belonging to the eicosanoid family. PGs were first discovered in mammals where they are key players in a great variety of physiological and pathological processes, for instance muscle and blood vessel tone regulation, inflammation, signaling, hemostasis, reproduction, and sleep-wake regulation. These molecules have successively been discovered in lower organisms, including marine invertebrates in which they play similar roles to those in mammals, being involved in the control of oogenesis and spermatogenesis, ion transport, and defense. Prostaglandins have also been found in some marine macroalgae of the genera Gracilaria and Laminaria and very recently the PGs pathway has been identified for the first time in some species of marine microalgae. In this review we report on the occurrence of prostaglandins in the marine environment and discuss the anti-inflammatory role of these molecules.

Keywords: clavulones; diatoms; inflammation; macroalgae; marine invertebrates; marine vertebrates; prostaglandins; punaglandins; thromboxane.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Prostaglandin biosynthetic pathway. Enzymes involved in the pathway are reported next to the arrows. For the abbreviation, refer to the text. Modified from [24].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prostaglandins and inflammation. (a) Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) stimulation of inflammatory response. Numbers indicate the sequence of events from PGE2 synthesis to stimulation of inflammation trough positive feedback on cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and negative feedback on microsomal PGE synthase-1 (mPTGES-1); (b) The anti-inflammatory role of prostaglandin J2 (PGJ2); (c) prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) signaling; (d) prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) signaling. For details, refer to the text.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Corals prostaglandins. (a) Plexaura homomalla; (b) Euplexaura erecta; (c) Lobophytum depressum; (d) Gersemia fruticosa.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Marine invertebrate prostaglandins. (a) Molluscs; (b) Crustaceans; (c) Echinoderms. Except for Tethys fimbria and Aplysia californica, pictures show organisms that are only representatives of each phylum. For details, refer to the text.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Marine vertebrate prostaglandins. (a) Teleosts (Salmo sp., Paralichthys olivaceus, Oncorhynchus keta, Thunnus thynnus, Salvelinus fontinalis, Pleuronectes platessa, Opsanus tau); (b) Elasmobranchs (Triakis scyllia, Scyliorhinus canicula). Pictures show organisms that are only representatives of each class. For details, refer to the text.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Red algae prostaglandins. The picture shows an organism representative of the genus. For details, refer to the text.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Brown algae prostaglandins: only Laminaria digitata has been studied for prostaglandins content. For details, refer to the text.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Microalgae prostaglandins. (a) Skeletonema marinoi (A. Ianora laboratory clones name FE7 and FE60); (b) Thalassiosira rotula; (c) Euglena gracilis; (d) Microcystis aeruginosa. For details, refer to the text.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Clavulones and related molecules in Clavularia viridis (Cnidaria, soft corals). For details, refer to the text.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Punaglandins in Telesto riisei (Cnidaria, octocoral). For details, refer to the text.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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