Emin Cadar’s scientific contributions

Collagen is one of the proteins that plays an important role in many biomedical and cosmetic applications. The present study investigates collagen extracted from the jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo, a species native to the Black Sea basin. The method of extracting collagen from the marine organism is described. The SDS-PAGE (Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate - Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis) method, an efficient technique for the separation and analysis of proteins according to molecular weight, was used to identify and characterize the protein structure of the extracted collagen. The collagen samples obtained were purified and subjected to electrophoresis, demonstrating a specific band corresponding to type I collagen, the main type of collagen found in marine organisms. The results show a protein structure similar to that of collagen isolated from other marine sources, indicating the high potential of Rhizostoma pulmo as a source of collagen for industrial applications. This research contributes to the development of sustainable methods for the valorization of marine resources from the Black Sea basin in fields such as regenerative, tissue, dermato-cosmetic, nutraceutical and even food medicine.

Ganoderma lucidum is a medicinal mushroom known by various names, the most popular being LingZhi or Reishi. Even today, this mushroom is used for its adjuvant effect in various diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, diseases of the immune system, and, above all, for its antioxidant effect in the treatment of cancer. It contains numerous bioactive components, but the most abundant are polysaccharides, triterpenes, and phenolic compounds, which confer biological activity against various acute and chronic diseases. In the present study, we aimed to carry out a general analysis of the composition of different crude extracts of G. lucidum using a UV-VIS spectrophotometer by reading the absorbance in a fixed range (200-900 nm). The results obtained were correlated with those reported in the literature. At the same time, a pharmacognostic study was carried out on the mushroom extracts, and the results were detailed. According to the results obtained, we can conclude that G. lucidum is a mushroom rich in bioactive compounds.

The biological qualities that collagen provides have been the basis for the continuous research and development of medicines, dematocosmetics, nutraceuticals, and food supplements. Fibrillar collagen is the most common type of protein. The interest in the study of jellyfish is justified by their increasing numbers and the biological structural and functional properties of the biocompounds they contain. Extraction, purification, characterization of collagen by known experimental methods, and determination of collagen yield for the jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo species found in the Black Sea basin were extracted, purified, characterized, and determined. The validation of the method is also demonstrated by determining the collagen content by the hydroxyproline method. Validation is the confirmation, through examination and the provision of objective evidence, that particular requirements aimed at a defined and specific purpose are achieved.