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Enhanced antiproliferative activity of phycoerythrin through microencapsulation

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Abstract

Phycoerythrin, a phycobiliprotein recognized for its brilliant crimson hue and essential role in light harvesting during photosynthesis, was extracted from the red alga Porphyridium purpureum. A final concentration of 0.3 mg mL−1, accompanied by an exceptional purity index of 6.05 was achieved. Then, its stability in response to pH fluctuations was evaluated, elucidating its robust resilience to varying pH conditions. To gauge its antioxidant prowess, two established techniques, the Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays, were employed, revealing both the inherent antioxidant capacity and a dose-dependent response. The obtained IC50 values were 22.61 mM for FRAP and 0.159 mg mL−1 for ABTS. After assessing its stability and antioxidant capacity, phycoerythrin encapsulated by an electrospray-assisted technique, employing diverse encapsulating materials. Impressively, each treatment surpassed an encapsulation efficiency threshold of 80%, opening promising avenues for controlled-release systems and targeted applications. The study culminated in an exploration of the protein's antiproliferative potential against colon cancer cells (CaCo2), both in its free and encapsulated states. At the highest tested concentration (0.3 mg mL−1) at 48 h, the non-encapsulated pigment exhibited a cellular viability of 41.0 ± 2.93%, whereas the encapsulated pigment reached a lower level of 27.27 ± 8.29%. These results show that encapsulation significantly enhances the in vitro anticancer activity of this pigment over time, underscoring its potential in biomedical applications.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the School of Engineering and Science and the FEMSA-Biotechnology Center at Tecnológico de Monterrey for their support through the Molecular and Systems Bioengineering Research Group. Javier Donoso-Quezada and Arisbe Silva-Nuñez thank the National Council for the Humanities, Sciences and Technologies of Mexico (CONAHCyT) for the financial support through scholarships numbers 995384 and 888365, respectively.

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  1. Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Science, Ave. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501, CP 64849, Monterrey, N.L., Mexico

    Arisbe Silva-Núñez, Javier Donoso-Quezada & José González-Valdez

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Conceptualization: José González-Valdez; Methodology: José González-Valdez, Arisbe Silva-Núñez; Formal analysis and investigation: Arisbe Silva-Núñez, Javier Donoso-Quezada; Writing—original draft preparation: Arisbe Silva-Núñez; Writing-review and editing: Arisbe Silva-Núñez, Javier Donoso-Quezada, José González-Valdez; Funding acquisition: José González-Valdez; Supervision: José González-Valdez.

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Correspondence to José González-Valdez.

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Silva-Núñez, A., Donoso-Quezada, J. & González-Valdez, J. Enhanced antiproliferative activity of phycoerythrin through microencapsulation. J Appl Phycol 36, 205–215 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03138-1

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