Mar. Drugs 2014, 12, 2539-2589; doi:10.3390/md12052539 OPEN ACCESS marine drugs ISSN 1660–3397 www.mdpi.com/journal/marinedrugs Review Bioactive Marine Drugs and Marine Biomaterials for Brain Diseases Clara Grosso 1, Patrícia Valentão 1, Federico Ferreres 2 and Paula B. Andrade 1,* 1 REQUIMTE/Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Rua de Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, no. 228, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal; E-Mails:
[email protected] (C.G.);
[email protected] (P.V.) 2 Research Group on Quality, Safety and Bioactivity of Plant Foods, Department of Food Science and Technology, CEBAS (CSIC), P.O. Box 164, Campus University Espinardo, Murcia 30100, Spain; E-Mail:
[email protected] * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +351-22042-8654; Fax: +351-22609-3390. Received: 30 January 2014; in revised form: 10 April 2014 / Accepted: 16 April 2014 / Published: 2 May 2014 Abstract: Marine invertebrates produce a plethora of bioactive compounds, which serve as inspiration for marine biotechnology, particularly in drug discovery programs and biomaterials development. This review aims to summarize the potential of drugs derived from marine invertebrates in the field of neuroscience. Therefore, some examples of neuroprotective drugs and neurotoxins will be discussed. Their role in neuroscience research and development of new therapies targeting the central nervous system will be addressed, with particular focus on neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. In addition, the neuronal growth promoted by marine drugs, as well as the recent advances in neural tissue engineering, will be highlighted. Keywords: aragonite; conotoxins; neurodegeneration; neuroinflammation; Aβ peptide; tau hyperphosphorylation; protein kinases; receptors; voltage-dependent ion channels; cyclooxygenases Mar.