Maria Ángeles Esteban

• Professor
• Professor (Full) at University of Murcia

Breast cancer continues to be a devastating disease worldwide, highlighting the critical need for new and effective treatments. Schiff bases are increasingly being used as powerful medications for a number of disorders. The current investigation concentrates on the synthesis and characterization of an alkynes allied Schiff bases 4(a–c) through spec...

This study evaluated the effect of replacing fish meal (FM) with concentrated trout viscera protein hydrolysate (TVPH) on the immune response in juvenile red tilapia (Oreocheromis spp). Five isoenergetic and isoproteic experimental diets were prepared by substituting FM with TVPH at different substitution ratios: 0% (control, D1) 25% (D2), 50% (D3)...

This study evaluates the impact of mango peel-derived pectin and Bacillus iranensis on the growth performance, immune response, histology, gene expression, and ammonia resistance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). A total of 320 fingerlings (average weight 30.5 ± 0.014 g) were divided into four groups and fed different diets for eight weeks:...

The aim of the study was to investigate the potential preventive use of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) to modulate inflammatory responses in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) skin. Initially, in vitro experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of various concentrations of butyric acid, acetic acid and propionic acid, as well as their combi...

The goal of this work was to determine the effects of dietary supplementation with fenugreek seeds on the oxidative status of gilthead seabream. Fish were fed four different diets for 8 weeks: three groups of fish were fed diets containing 1%, 5% or 10% (w/w) fenugreek seeds, while the control group was fed a diet without fenugreek. At the end of t...

The excessive use of antibiotics in aquaculture favors the natural selection of multidrug-resistant bacteria, and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) could be a promising alternative to this problem. The most studied AMPs in teleost fish are piscidins, hepcidins, and β-defensins. In this work, we have found a new gene (defb2) encoding a type 2 β-defensin...

Aim Dermaseptins are one of the main families of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) derived from the skin secretions of Hylidae frogs. Among them, dermaseptin S4 (DS4) is characterized by its broad-spectrum of activity against bacteria, protozoa, and fungi. In this study, the physicochemical properties of the native peptide DS4 (1–28) and two derivative...

Simple Summary The fish’s skin is the tissue whose total area is in permanent contact with the aquatic environment. Despite its relevance, there are currently very few studies aimed at evaluating tissue repair mechanisms. In this study, we assessed the tissue repair response to mechanical damage in the skin of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata), re...

The use of natural immunostimulants in aquaculture is intended to foster overall health and bolster resilience against diseases in farmed fish populations. It constitutes a crucial strategy that can contribute to securing the sustainability of the aquaculture industry, and it is an area that warrants ongoing exploration and development. Therefore,...

Shewanella putrefaciens Pdp11 (SpPdp11) is a probiotic strain assayed in aquaculture; however, its postbiotic potential is unknown. Postbiotics are bacterial metabolites, including extracellular products (ECPs) that improve host physiology and immunity. Their production and composition can be affected by different factors such as the growing condit...

Silk fibroin (SF) microparticles were administered in the diet of gilthead seabream with or without experimental skin wounds to study the effects on cellular immunity and liver. A commercially available diet was enriched with varying amount of SF: 0, 50 and 100 mg kg ⁻¹ (representing the control, SF50 and SF100 diets respectively). The animals were...

This comprehensive review examines the role of fish thrombocytes, cells considered functionally analogous to platelets in terms of coagulation, but which differ in their origin and morphology. Despite the evolutionary distance between teleosts and mammals, genomic studies reveal conserved patterns in blood coagulation, although there are excepti...

The role of hepcidins, antimicrobial peptides involved in iron metabolism, immunity, and inflammation, is studied. First, gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) head-kidney leucocytes (HKLs) were incubated with λ-carrageenin to study the expression of hepcidin and iron metabolism-related genes. While the expression of most of the genes studied was up...

Background: Abelmoschus esculentus L., okra, have been known as a healthy plant and classically employed in food and folk medicine for several human and animal’s diseases. Aim: The in vitro antioxidant and antibacterial capacities, in addition of phytochemical compounds of the okra fruits extracts gathered at three maturity stages were the objectiv...

The increased knowledge of functional foods has led to the development of a new generation of health products, including those containing probiotics and products derived from them. Shewanella putrefaciens Pdp11 (SpPdp11) is a strain described as a probiotic that exerts important beneficial effects on several farmed fish. However, the use of live pr...

One of the main families of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) derived from the skin secretions of Hylidae frogs are dermaseptins. Among them, dermaseptin S4 (DS4) is characterized by its broad spectrum of activity against bacteria, protozoa and fungi. This study determined the physicochemical properties of the native peptide DS4(1-28) and its derivativ...

Carrageenan is a high molecular weight sulphated polysaccharide used to induce experimental inflammation in mammals. In addition, it possesses a wide variety of properties that have not yet been studied in fish. This study evaluated the hemagglutinating, hemolytic, cytotoxic, and antibacterial activities of λ-carrageenan. The results showed that λ-...

Zirconium, a transition metal with medical importance, is widely used and has a generally safe profile. However, prolonged and continuous exposure can lead to detrimental consequences; this necessitates the development of quick and efficient sensors for the detection of Zr(IV) ion. The current investigation focuses on the synthesis and characteriza...

Simple Summary It is known that, in intensive farming, fish are often exposed to multiple sources of stress that increase their susceptibility to pathogens and promote disease outbreaks. The latter are recognized as a major constraint on sustainable animal production, which can cause significant economic losses in the aquaculture sector. Many drugs...

Marine (blue) biotechnology is an emerging field enabling the valorization of new products and processes with massive potential for innovation and economic growth. In the Mediterranean region, this innovation potential is not exploited as well as in other European regions due to a lack of a clear identification of the different value chains and the...

In nature, water temperature experiences daily variations known as thermocycles. Temperature is the main environmental factor that influences sex determination in most teleost fish. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of rearing temperature (thermocycle (TC) vs. constant (CTE)) on development and a posterior thermal shock throughou...

Vibriosis is an infectious disease that generates large economic losses in Mediterranean aquaculture. Vibrio harveyi is one of the marine bacteria causing this disease, it is widespread in the Mediterranean Sea and causes ulcers on the skin of the fish it infects. In addition, the skin is a route of entry and colonization of this pathogen. In this...

Cantharidin, a toxic monoterpene secreted by blister beetles, has long been used in traditional Chinese and modern medicine for its unique properties. However, despite its widespread use, its effects on fish have not been studied. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential therapeutic applications of cantharidin in fish by examining its an...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential effects of γ-irradiated date palm fruit (Phoenix dactylifera), which is rich in phenolic acids and has important and varied biological bioactivities, on growth performance, mucosal immunity and liver antioxidant status in goldfish (Carassius auratus). The antioxidant activity, alongside the phenol...

Marine environments receive plastic waste, where it suffers a transformation process into smaller particles. Among them, microplastics (MPs; <5 mm) are ingested by aquatic organisms leading to negative effects on animal welfare. The interactions between MPs, contaminants and organisms are poorly understood. To clarify this issue, European seabass (...

Okra, Abelmoschus esculentus L., is a popular vegetable crop with many bioactive compounds. The in vitro immunostimulant, cytotoxic, bactericidal and antioxidant activities of ethanolic extracts obtained from different parts of okra (leaves, fruits, and seeds) were studied. Phytochemical screening of hydroalcoholic extracts of okra leaves, fruits a...

Cantharidin, a toxic monoterpene secreted by blister beetles, has long been used in traditional Chinese and modern medicine for its unique properties. However, despite its widespread use, its effects on fish have not been studied in depth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential therapeutic applications of cantharidin in fish by examini...

Chemical contaminants such as heavy metals, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and drugs, are constantly found in the marine environment determining the interest of the scientific community for their side effects on animal welfare, food safety and security. Few studies have analyzed the effects of mix of contaminants in fish, in terms of molecu...

The molecular processes underlying skin wound healing in several fish species have been elucidated in the last years, however, metabolomic insights are scarce. Here we report the skin mucus metabolome of wounded and non-wounded gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) fed with silk fibroin microparticles, a functional additive considered to accelerate the...

T cell activation is a multifaceted process that depends on the activation of the T cell receptor (TCR). However, other coreceptors are also strictly necessary to provide co-signals and modulate the immune response. However, to date, most of these coreceptors are unknown in fish or their information is very limited. Therefore, in this work, we have...

Editorials on the Research Topic: Physiological performance of aquatic animals under farming-induced stress conditions, with six accepted articles Journal: Frontiers in Physiology

Simple Summary This study evaluated using NGS techniques and bioinformatic analysis the influence on the microbiota and transcriptomic response of skin mechanically wounded gilthead seabream (S. aurata) specimens fed with a probiotic SpPdp11 supplemented diet. Four group of fish were established: non-wounded and wounded fed control diet, and non-wo...

Iron is essential for all living things, especially marine organisms, due to its low availability in the marine environment. Iron regulation is key in all vertebrates and is controlled by hepcidin–ferroportin. To improve the knowledge of iron homeostasis in fish, an iron overload was induced in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), which was chosen as...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a potent arm of the innate immune system that can directly kill pathogens and induce immunomodulation. In the marine aquaculture, European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) is one of the most prosperous species but is highly susceptible to nodavirus (NNV), which produces high rates of mortality in larvae and juven...

Mitochondria are a crucial cellular organelle that organizes a wide range of biological processes, from energy production and calcium homeostasis to cell proliferation, differentiation, and death as well as inflammation. Mitochondria also support immune cell phenotypes and function. The aim of this communication is to evaluate the mitochondrial sta...

Keywords: Pinus halepensis, resin, GC/MS, antioxidant activity, antifungal activity

The present study investigated the effect of partial substitution of soybean meal (SM) for fish meal (FM) with or without addition of inulin and oligofructose in pikeperch feed. A diet containing FM was considered as the basal diet, and then three other diets were prepared by: 1) replacing 50% of FM with SM (SM50), 2) replacing 50% of FM with SM an...

The role of subcutaneous adipose tissue adipocytes and the effects of fatty acids on carrageenan-induced skin inflammation in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) were studied. Fish were injected intramuscularly with phosphate-buffered saline (control) or λ-carrageenin (1%), and skin samples collected at the injection site at 3 and 6 h post-injection...

The South Lagoon of Tunis (Tunisia) is a Mediterranean lagoon adversely affected by industrial contaminants, harbour activity and untreated urban sewage. In this lagoon, the clam Ruditapes decussatus has been widely used as a biomonitor of seawater pollution through measurements of parameters related to oxidative stress and neurotoxicity. However,...

Vitamin D3 (VD3) participated widely in the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-mediated inflammation, apoptosis, and autophagy through the vitamin D receptor (VDR). However, the molecular mechanisms remain not understood in teleost. The present study investigated the functions of VD3/VDR on intestinal inflammation, autophagy, and apoptosis of turbot in vivo...

The aim of this study was the induction and characterization of extracellular traps (ETs) produced by gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) head-kidney leucocytes. The cells were incubated several times (10, 30, 60, 120, and 180 min) with different concentrations of the stimulants diluted in RPMI-1640 culture medium: RPMI-1640 (control), β-glucan fr...

Nanoparticles-based treatments is of utmost importance for aquaculture. In this scenario, chitosan-based nanoparticles have been proposed due to the properties of chitosan, which include mucoadhesiveness. Nevertheless, pivotal parameters of chitosan, such as degree of acetylation and molecular weight, are commonly underestimated in the available li...

The circadian clock of vertebrates regulates many biological processes, including the immune system. This paper investigated whether responsiveness to poly (I:C), a synthetic analog of double-stranded RNA used as an immunostimulant, exhibits day/night differences in zebrafish. Fish were intraperitoneally (IP) injected with either phosphate-buffered...

Herein, we describe the synthesis of Schiff base derived organosilatranes having pyridine moiety in the scaffold by using the simple synthetic method. The structure of the newly synthesized heterocyclic compounds was deduced by using various spectroscopic studies. The Chemosensor demonstrated the high selectivity and sensitivity for Zn²⁺ ions by di...

From the discovery of pleurocidin in skin mucus of winter flounder, many new related sequences have been found, forming a fish-exclusive family of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) called piscidin. Their mature peptides have a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and can be involved in the innate immune response. In the present work, two paralogous tri...

The λ-carrageenin is a sulphated mucopolysaccharide that has been used for decades to induce experimental inflammation in mammals. However, it has been little considered in fish. We studied the in vitro effects of λ-carrageenin on gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) head-kidney leucocytes (HKLs). For this purpose, HKLs were incubated with serial c...

The designing of chemosensors is a fascinating and growing research field among the scientific community. This article emphasizes the synthesis of thiosemicarbazone-triazole bearing siloxy framework (5a-5c) by utilizing an effective and biocompatible Cu(I) catalyzed “Click Silylation” approach. All the newly synthesized compounds (4a-4c and 5a-5c)...

A silatranyl linked Schiff base is designed and synthesized via a condensation technique utilizing 4-(Diethylamino)-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde and aminopropylsilane. Various methods, such as (¹H and ¹³C) NMR and mass spectrometry, were used to characterize the structure of the generated compounds. Further silatrane-3a was successfully immobilized over s...

Advances in fisheries and aquaculture science often follow the introduction of new tools or analytic methods [...]

Nucleobases, nucleosides and nucleotides can act as chemical markers and immunnostimulants. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization and quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry was used to determine bioactive compounds from different yeast species isolated from extremal marine environments, Yarrowia lipolytica,...

The impact of dietary supplementation with silk fibroin (SF) microparticles on the wound healing process in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) skin was studied. A control diet was enriched with different SF levels: 0 (control), 50 (SF50 diet), and 100 (SF100 diet) mg Kg-1 to form three experimental diets and was fed to seabream for 30 days. Experime...

Host defense peptides (HDP) are among the most ancient immune molecules in animals and clearly reflect an ancestral evolutionary history involving pathogen-host interactions. Hepcidins are a very widespread family of HDPs among vertebrates and are especially diverse in teleosts. We have investigated the identification of new hepcidins in gilthead s...

Aquaculture sustainable development is necessary since it is categorized as the most important source of aquatic products for human consumption and it is expected to keep growing shortly. For this reason, the addition of natural immunostimulants to fish diet to improve fish health and to preserve the environment have great importance in aquaculture...

The current work aimed to carry out an in vivo study of the λ-carrageenin-induced inflammation in the skin of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata). The fish were injected intramuscularly with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS, as control) or λ-carrageenin (1% in PBS), and the injection zone was evaluated by real-time ultrasonography (Vevo Lab, VisualSoni...

Fish stress is a major concern in the aquaculture industry. Many stressors coming from routine practices can predispose fish to compromised growth, immunity and overall health. This study focuses on the characterization of the skin microbiota using next generation sequencing (NGS) platform by targeting a genomic marker 16S and to determine growth p...

Cantharidin is a toxic vesicant terpene used in folk and traditional medicine due to its various therapeutic effects. Since there are no previous data on the effect of cantharidin in fish, this study aimed to investigate the in vitro related-inflammatory effects of cantharidin in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.) head-kidney leucocytes (HKLs). I...

In this manuscript, a new series of thiosemicarbazone-triazole linked organotriethoxysilanes (6a-6g) have been synthesized using Cu (I) catalyzed click reaction and characterized by spectroscopic techniques including IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR, TGA and ESI-QTOF mass spectrometry. The compound 6a was screened for its photophysical properties using UV-Visibl...

The supply of nutrients, such as antioxidant agents, to fish cells still represents a challenge in aquaculture. In this context, we investigated solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) composed of a combination of Gelucire® 50/13 and Precirol® ATO5 to administer a grape seed extract (GSE) mixture containing several antioxidant compounds. The combination of...

To provide practical feeding management guidelines preceding a stressful episode during farming practices, European sea bass juveniles (initial weight: 72.3 g) were fed for 60-days different fish meal (FM) and fish oil (FO) dietary levels [high (30% FM, 15% FO, FM30/FO15), intermediate (20% FM, 7% FO, FM20/FO7), and low (10% FM, 3% FO, FM10/FO3)] i...

Mucosal immunology is the study of the immune responses that occur at mucosal surfaces, such as the gut, skin, gills, and nose. These tissues in fish are closely associated with the external environment. The mucosal immune system must provide protective immunity against pathogens but remaining tolerant to nonharmful environmental substances. In the...

Schiff bases of veratraldehyde based organosilatranes have been synthesized. The colorimetric and fluorimetric detection of 3a and its hybrid silica nanoparticles (V-NPs) revealed significant sensorial ability only towards Cu ²⁺ and Fe ³⁺ ions.

In the present study, the modulation of the transcriptional immune response (microarray analysis) in the head kidney (HK) of the anadromous fish Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fed a diet supplemented with an olive fruit extract (AQUOLIVE®) was evaluated. At the end of the trial (133 days), in order to investigate the immunomodulatory properties of t...

Inflammation is one of the main causes of loss of homeostasis at both the systemic and molecular levels. The aim of this study was to investigate in silico the conservation of inflammation-related proteins in the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.). Open reading frames of the selected genes were used as input in the STRING database for protein–pro...

The yeast Yarrowia lipolytica has been industrially adopted for docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid production under good manufacturing practices over 2 decades. In recent years, it has claimed attention for novel biotechnological applications, such as a functional feed additive for animals. Studies have demonstrated that this yeast is s...

Although inflammation is a well-characterized process in mammals, few studies have dealt with the mechanisms involved in this process in fish. The present study evaluated the expression of inflammation-related genes in the skin of fish injected with carrageenin, which has previously been used in inflammatory models in mammals. In our case, fish wer...

Because the role of the liver of fishes in providing possible immunity remains largely unknown, the aim of this work was to identify and characterize different humoral defence mechanisms in the liver homogenates and bile of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) for the first time. Total protein levels and several immune parameters (complement activity,...

Gilthead seabream is bred mainly in fish farms in the Mediterranean Sea. One important factor responsible for the deterioration of fish quality is lipid oxidation. Moringa oleifera leaves have been described as having high antioxidant content. This work investigates the effect of dietary supplementation with Moringa leaves on the antioxidant activi...

Increased demand of potentialtherapeutics has stimulated an expeditious search of new organosilicon analogues in the field of drug designing and as sensor of essential nutrients. Herein, we design anthracene based triazolyl triethoxysilanes ATES(1–7) tethered via click chemistry and carried out introspection into their sensing ability towards free...