The liver is vulnerable to oxidative stress-induced damage, which leads to many diseases, including alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Liver disease endanger people’s health, and the incidence of ALD is increasing; therefore, prevention is very important. 7-phloro-eckol (7PE) is a seaweed polyphenol, which was isolated from Ecklonia cava in a previous study. In this study, the antioxidative stress effect of 7PE on HepG2/CYP2E1 cells was evaluated by alcohol-induced cytotoxicity, DNA damage, and expression of related inflammation and apoptosis proteins. The results showed that 7PE caused alcohol-induced cytotoxicity to abate, reduced the amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO), and effectively inhibited DNA damage in HepG2/CYP2E1 cells. Additionally, the expression levels of glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), and Akt increased, while γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), Bcl-2 related x (Bax), cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), and JNK decreased. Finally, molecular docking proved that 7PE could bind to BCL-2 and GSH protein. These results indicate that 7PE can alleviate the alcohol-induced oxidative stress injury of HepG2 cells and that 7PE may have a potential application prospect in the future development of antioxidants.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the elderly for which there is no cure or disease-modifying therapy. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress play a central role in dopaminergic neurodegeneration in PD. Therefore, antioxidants are considered a promising neuroprotective approach. In in vivo activity studies, 6-OHDA-induced oxidative stress in SH-SY5Y cells was established as a model of PD for cellular experiments. IIAVE (Ile–Ile–Ala–Val–Glu) was derived from Isochrysis zhanjiangensis octapeptide (IIAVEAGC), which has a small molecular weight. The structure and antioxidant activity of IIAVE were tested in a previous study and proved to have good antioxidant potential. In this study, the chemical properties of IIAVE were calculated using quantum chemical methods, including frontier molecular orbital (FMO), molecular electrostatic potential (MEP), natural population analysis (NPA), and global reactivity properties. The interaction of IIAVE with Bcl-2 and DJ-1 was investigated using the molecular docking method. The results showed that IIAVE promoted the activation of the Keap1/Nrf2 pathway and up-regulated the expression of the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD-1) protein by inhibiting the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells. In addition, IIAVE inhibits ROS production and prevents 6-OHDA-induced oxidative damage by restoring mitochondrial membrane potential. Furthermore, IIAVE inhibited cell apoptosis by increasing the Bcl-2/Bax ratio and inhibiting the activation of Caspase-9 and Caspase-3. Thus, IIAVE may become a potential drug for the treatment and prevention of PD.

Epi-aszonalenin A (EAA) is an alkaloid that is isolated and purified from the secondary metabolites of coral symbiotic fungi and has been shown to have good atherosclerotic intervention activity and anti-angiogenic activity in our previous studies. In the present study, antiangiogenic activity was used as a basis of an intensive study of its mechanism of action against tumor metastasis and invasion. Invasive metastatic pairs are a hallmark of malignancy, and the dissemination of tumor cells is the most dangerous process in the development of tumors. The results of cell wound healing and the Transwell chamber assay showed that EAA interfered well with PMA-induced migration and invasion of HT1080 cells. Western blot and the ELISA assay showed that EAA decreased MMPs and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) activity and inhibited the expression of N-cadherin and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) by regulating the phosphorylation of downstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), PI3K/AKT, and NF-κB pathways. Simultaneous molecular docking results revealed that the mimic coupling between the EAA and MMP-2/-9 molecules formed a stable interaction. The results of this study provide a research basis for the inhibition of tumor metastasis by EAA, and together with previous studies, confirm the potential pharmacology and drug potential for this class of compound for application in angiogenesis-related diseases and further improve the availability of coral symbiotic fungi.