<i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i>: An Extremophilic Alga as a Source of Antiviral Bioactive Compounds
In the last decades, the interest in bioactive compounds derived from natural sources including bacteria, fungi, plants, and algae has significantly increased. It is well-known that aquatic or terrestrial organisms can produce, in special conditions, secondary metabolites with a wide range of biolog...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Marine Drugs |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/21/7/383 |
| _version_ | 1797588531817742336 |
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| author | Annalisa Ambrosino Annalisa Chianese Carla Zannella Simona Piccolella Severina Pacifico Rosa Giugliano Gianluigi Franci Antonino De Natale Antonino Pollio Gabriele Pinto Anna De Filippis Massimiliano Galdiero |
| author_facet | Annalisa Ambrosino Annalisa Chianese Carla Zannella Simona Piccolella Severina Pacifico Rosa Giugliano Gianluigi Franci Antonino De Natale Antonino Pollio Gabriele Pinto Anna De Filippis Massimiliano Galdiero |
| author_sort | Annalisa Ambrosino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the last decades, the interest in bioactive compounds derived from natural sources including bacteria, fungi, plants, and algae has significantly increased. It is well-known that aquatic or terrestrial organisms can produce, in special conditions, secondary metabolites with a wide range of biological properties, such as anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities. In this study, we focused on the extremophilic microalga <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i> as a possible producer of bioactive compounds with antiviral activity. The algal culture was subjected to organic extraction with acetone. The cytotoxicity effect of the extract was evaluated by the 2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The antiviral activity was assessed through a plaque assay against herpesviruses and coronaviruses as enveloped viruses and poliovirus as a naked one. The monolayer was treated with different concentrations of extract, ranging from 1 µg/mL to 200 µg/mL, and infected with viruses. The algal extract displayed strong antiviral activity at non-toxic concentrations against all tested enveloped viruses, in particular in the virus pre-treatment against HSV-2 and HCoV-229E, with IC<sub>50</sub> values of 1.7 µg/mL and IC<sub>90</sub> of 1.8 µg/mL, respectively. However, no activity against the non-enveloped poliovirus has been detected. The inhibitory effect of the algal extract was confirmed by the quantitative RT-PCR of viral genes. Preliminary chemical profiling of the extract was performed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS), revealing the enrichment in primary fatty acid amides (PFAA), such as oleamide, palmitamide, and pheophorbide A. These promising results pave the way for the further purification of the mixture to explore its potential role as an antiviral agent. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:54:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fc4cd0c424744cee8054a0a1cdb61114 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1660-3397 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T00:54:21Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Marine Drugs |
| spelling | doaj.art-fc4cd0c424744cee8054a0a1cdb611142023-11-18T20:14:02ZengMDPI AGMarine Drugs1660-33972023-06-0121738310.3390/md21070383<i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i>: An Extremophilic Alga as a Source of Antiviral Bioactive CompoundsAnnalisa Ambrosino0Annalisa Chianese1Carla Zannella2Simona Piccolella3Severina Pacifico4Rosa Giugliano5Gianluigi Franci6Antonino De Natale7Antonino Pollio8Gabriele Pinto9Anna De Filippis10Massimiliano Galdiero11Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 81100 Caserta, ItalyDepartment of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 81100 Caserta, ItalyDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry “Scuola Medica Salernitana”, University of Salerno, 84081 Baronissi, ItalyDepartment of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, 80126 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, 80126 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo, 80126 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, ItalyDepartment of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, 80138 Naples, ItalyIn the last decades, the interest in bioactive compounds derived from natural sources including bacteria, fungi, plants, and algae has significantly increased. It is well-known that aquatic or terrestrial organisms can produce, in special conditions, secondary metabolites with a wide range of biological properties, such as anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities. In this study, we focused on the extremophilic microalga <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i> as a possible producer of bioactive compounds with antiviral activity. The algal culture was subjected to organic extraction with acetone. The cytotoxicity effect of the extract was evaluated by the 2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The antiviral activity was assessed through a plaque assay against herpesviruses and coronaviruses as enveloped viruses and poliovirus as a naked one. The monolayer was treated with different concentrations of extract, ranging from 1 µg/mL to 200 µg/mL, and infected with viruses. The algal extract displayed strong antiviral activity at non-toxic concentrations against all tested enveloped viruses, in particular in the virus pre-treatment against HSV-2 and HCoV-229E, with IC<sub>50</sub> values of 1.7 µg/mL and IC<sub>90</sub> of 1.8 µg/mL, respectively. However, no activity against the non-enveloped poliovirus has been detected. The inhibitory effect of the algal extract was confirmed by the quantitative RT-PCR of viral genes. Preliminary chemical profiling of the extract was performed using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS), revealing the enrichment in primary fatty acid amides (PFAA), such as oleamide, palmitamide, and pheophorbide A. These promising results pave the way for the further purification of the mixture to explore its potential role as an antiviral agent.https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/21/7/383microalgaeextremophilicantiviralSARS-CoV-2coronavirusherpesvirus |
| spellingShingle | Annalisa Ambrosino Annalisa Chianese Carla Zannella Simona Piccolella Severina Pacifico Rosa Giugliano Gianluigi Franci Antonino De Natale Antonino Pollio Gabriele Pinto Anna De Filippis Massimiliano Galdiero <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i>: An Extremophilic Alga as a Source of Antiviral Bioactive Compounds Marine Drugs microalgae extremophilic antiviral SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus herpesvirus |
| title | <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i>: An Extremophilic Alga as a Source of Antiviral Bioactive Compounds |
| title_full | <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i>: An Extremophilic Alga as a Source of Antiviral Bioactive Compounds |
| title_fullStr | <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i>: An Extremophilic Alga as a Source of Antiviral Bioactive Compounds |
| title_full_unstemmed | <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i>: An Extremophilic Alga as a Source of Antiviral Bioactive Compounds |
| title_short | <i>Galdieria sulphuraria</i>: An Extremophilic Alga as a Source of Antiviral Bioactive Compounds |
| title_sort | i galdieria sulphuraria i an extremophilic alga as a source of antiviral bioactive compounds |
| topic | microalgae extremophilic antiviral SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus herpesvirus |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/21/7/383 |
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