Marine molluscs from the family Muricidae hold great potential for development as a source of therapeutically useful compounds. Traditionally known for the production of the ancient dye Tyrian purple, these molluscs also form the basis of some rare traditional medicines that have been used for thousands of years. Whilst these traditional and alternative medicines have not been chemically analys...

Cholinesterases (ChE) are specialized carboxylic ester hydrolases that catalyse the hydrolysis of choline esters. They are classified into either acetylcholinesterase (AChE) or butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). Determination of ChE in the tissues is the appropriate tool for the diagnosis of organophosphorus and carbamate exposures. In general, a significant inhibition was seen in both AChE and BChE...

The predatory marine gastropod Dicathais orbita has been the subject of a significant amount of biological and chemical research over the past five decades. Natural products research on D. orbita includes the isolation and identification of brominated indoles and choline esters as precursors of Tyrian purple, as well as the synthesis of structural analogues, bioactivity testing, biodistribution...

The anticancer prodrug 7-ethyl-10-[4-(1-piperidino)-1-piperidino-]carbonyloxycamptothecin (CPT-11) is a highly effective camptothecin analog that has been approved for the treatment of colon cancer. It is hydrolyzed by carboxylesterases to yield 7-ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38), a potent topoisomerase I poison. However, upon high-dose intravenous administration of CPT-11, a cholinergic sy...

Environmental chemicals may be involved in the etiology of breast cancers. Many studies have addressed the association between cancer in humans and agricultural pesticide exposure. Organophosphorous pesticides have been used extensively to control mosquito plagues. Parathion and malathion are organophosphorous pesticides extensively used to control a wide range of sucking and chewing pests of f...

In 1938-9 at the British Postgraduate Medical School, King & Aloisi isolated from dried pancreas a glycerophosphoric ester of choline which was found to be readily hydrolyzable. Evidence was also obtained for the existence of a dicholine ester. This work was published only in 1945 owing to war difficulties. In the same year Schmidt, Hershman & Thanmhauser (1945) reported the isolation of aglyce...

Ester synthesis catalyzed by esterases has been the subject of many investigations (1, 2). The reversal of acetylcholine hydrolysis by serum esterase has been described by Abderhalden and Paffrath (3) and Ammon and Kwiatkowski (4). The availability of a highly active and purified acetylcholinesterase and the development of a chemical method for the determination of acetylcholine in the presence...

During the last 20 years evidence has accumulated, mainly from the work of 0. Loewi, Dale, Cannon and their co-workers, supporting the view that the action of sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves on the effector organ occurs by virtue of chemical mediation. It is generally believed that adrenaline, or a related substance, sympathin, is the transmitter substance at sympathetic nerve endings, w...

Marine bioactive metabolites are often heterogeneously expressed in tissues both spatially and over time. Therefore, traditional solvent extraction methods benefit from an understanding of the in situ sites of biosynthesis and storage to deal with heterogeneity and maximize yield. Recently, surface-assisted mass spectrometry (MS) methods namely nanostructure-assisted laser desorption ionisation...