Cyanobacteria as Natural Therapeutics and Pharmaceutical Potential: Role in Antitumor Activity and as Nanovectors

Cyanobacteria (blue-green microalgae) are ubiquitous, Gram-negative photoautotrophic prokaryotes. They are considered as one of the most efficient sources of bioactive secondary metabolites. More than 50% of cyanobacteria are cultivated on commercial platforms to extract bioactive compounds, which have bene shown to possess anticancer activity. The chemically diverse natural compounds or their analogues induce cytotoxicity and potentially kill a variety of cancer cells via the induction of apoptosis, or altering the activation of cell signaling, involving especially the protein kinase-C family members, cell cycle arrest, mitochondrial dysfunctions and oxidative damage. These therapeutic properties enable their use in the pharma and healthcare sectors for the betterment of future generations. This review provides a baseline overview of the anti-cancerous cyanobacterial bioactive compounds, along with recently introduced nanomaterials that could be used for the development of new anticancer drugs to build a healthy future for mankind.     

A Lotka-Volterra symbiotic model with cross-diffusion

The main goal of this paper is to study the existence and non-existence of coexistence states for a Lotka-Volterra symbiotic model with cross-diffusion. We use mainly bifurcation methods and a priori bounds to give sufficient conditions in terms of the data of the problem for the existence of positive solutions. We also analyze the profiles of the positive solutions when the cross-diffusion parameter goes to infinity.     

Polyhydroxybutyrate production from carbon dioxide by cyanobacteria

Genetic characterization and enhancement of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) accumulation in cyanobacteria were investigated for efficient PHB production from CO₂. The genome DNAs in the PHB-accumulating strains Synechococcus sp. MA19 and Spirulina platensis NIES46 retained the highly homologous region to phaC of Synechocystis PCC6803, whereas low homology was detected in the nonaccumulating strains Synechococcus sp. PCC7942 and Anabaenacylindrica NIES19. Synechococcus sp. MA19, which accumulates PHB up to 30% of dry cell weight from CO₂ as the sole carbon source, was mutated by insertion of transposon Tn5 to enhance the PHB accumulation. Genetic and physiological analysis of the mutant indicated that decreased phosphotransacetylase activity could trigger an increase of acetyl coenzyme A leading to enhancement of PHB accumulation. PHB synthase in Synechococcus sp. MA19 was probably attached to thylakoid membrane since PHB granules were associated with pigments. A genetically engineered cyanobacteria retaining soluble PHB synthase from Ralstonia eutropha accumulated pigment-free PHB granules, which is an advantage for the purification of PHB.     

Regioselective Cleavage of Thioether Linkages in Microcystin Conjugates

Microcystins are cyanobacterial toxins that can be found in fresh and coastal waters during algal blooms. Microcystin contamination of water can cause severe poisoning of animals and humans. Quantification of these toxins in biological samples is complicated because a major proportion of microcystins is covalently linked to proteins through thioether bonds formed through a Michael‐type addition of cysteine residues of proteins to an N‐methyldehydroalanine residue in the microcystins. We investigated chemical methods that can be used to cleave such thioether bonds by means of an elimination reaction that leaves the microcystin backbone intact for subsequent analysis. The known reagent O‐mesitylenesulfonylhydroxylamine (MSH) led to regioselective thioether cleavage, but a large excess of reagent was needed, thus making purification challenging. An unexpected side reaction observed during the investigation of the base‐induced elimination inspired us to develop a new thioether‐cleavage methodology based on the addition of propargylamine as a nucleophile that can trap the elimination product. This methodology could be successfully applied to the quantitative cleavage of a microcystin‐LF–glutathione conjugate. The alkyne moiety introduced by this procedure offers the possibility for further reactions with azides by using click chemistry, which might be useful for the derivatization or isolation of microcystins.     

Photosynthetic Tumor Oxygenation by Photosensitizer‐Containing Cyanobacteria for Enhanced Photodynamic Therapy

Sustained tumor oxygenation is of critical importance during type‐II photodynamic therapy (PDT), which depends on the intratumoral oxygen level for the generation of reactive oxygen species. Herein, the modification of photosynthetic cyanobacteria with the photosensitizer chlorin e6 (ce6) to form ce6‐integrated photosensitive cells, termed ceCyan, is reported. Upon 660 nm laser irradiation, sustained photosynthetic O₂ evolution by the cyanobacteria and the immediate generation of reactive singlet oxygen species (¹O₂) by the integrated photosensitizer could be almost simultaneously achieved for tumor therapy using type‐II PDT both in vitro and in vivo. This work contributes a conceptual while practical paradigm for biocompatible and effective PDT using hybrid microorganisms, displaying a bright future in clinical PDT by microbiotic nanomedicine.     

Complete assignment of the NMR spectra of [D‐Leu1]‐microcystin‐LR and analysis of its solution structure

[D ‐Leu¹]‐microcystin‐LR is a recently discovered microcystin. We report the isolation of this microcystin analogue from a Microcystis aeruginosa strain isolated from the Lagoa de Iquipari, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectra were completely assigned in both MeOH‐d₄ and DMSO‐d₆. Further, the solution structure of this compound was investigated with the use of two‐dimensional NMR and the amide proton temperature dependence, and was compared with those of its analogs, microcystin‐RR and microcystin‐LR. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asymmetric synthesis of (E)-dehydroapratoxin A

An asymmetric approach to key intermediate 17 starting from lactone 7 is described, in which Evan’s alkylation and CBS-catalyzed reduction are used for construction of the chiral centers, respectively. Thus, the synthesis of (E)-dehydroapratoxin A 6 could be accomplished in a general fashion, therein FDPP has been proven as an efficient condensation reagent for the coupling of amine 25 and carboxylic acid 24.     

An expeditious total synthesis of kalkitoxins: determination of the absolute stereostructure of natural kalkitoxin

Kalkitoxin, a potent neurotoxin isolated from the marine cyanobacteria Lyngbya majuscula, and its congeners (1-7) were efficiently synthesized utilizing Hruby's diastereoselective 1,4-addition and the Wipf's oxazoline-thiazoline conversion as key steps. These synthetic efforts in combination with spectral studies of natural kalkitoxin clearly determined the absolute stereostructure of kalkitoxin to be 7.     

Protease inhibitors from a Slovenian Lake Bled toxic waterbloom of the cyanobacterium Planktothrix rubescens

Three new protease inhibitors, planktopeptin BL1125, planktopeptin BL843 and planktopeptin BL1061 were isolated, along with three known compounds, anabaenopeptin A, anabaenopeptin B and anabaenopeptin F from the hydrophilic extract of Planktothrix rubescens. The planar structure of the new compounds was determined by homonuclear and inverse-heteronuclear 2D NMR techniques as well as high-resolution mass spectrometry. The absolute configuration of the asymmetric centers was studied using Marfey's method for HPLC and by comparison of the acid hydrolysate with authentic samples on a chiral HPLC column. The new peptides were found to be elastase and chymotrypsin inhibitors.