Isolation, characterization, and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao: antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities

Abstract Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao, a red seaweed widely cultivated for carrageenan polysaccharide, is also a potential source of the valuable pigment phycoerythrin (PE). Therefore, this study aims to extract phycoerythrin from K. alvarezii, evaluate its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and...

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Main Authors: Harinathan Balasundaram, Parthasarathy Seethapathy, Subbiah Sankaralingam, Shunmugiah Mahendran, Murugan Mareeswaran, Jeyaraj Pandiarajan, Pandiaraj Maheswari, Sakthivel Venkatesh, Malaisamy Arunkumar, Girish R. Pathade, Deepu Pandita, Anu Pandita, Fazal Ullah, Hosam O. Elansary, Muhammad Nazim, Adel A. Fickak, Mohamed A. Rashwan, Ihab Mohamed Moussa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11899-7
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author Harinathan Balasundaram
Parthasarathy Seethapathy
Subbiah Sankaralingam
Shunmugiah Mahendran
Murugan Mareeswaran
Jeyaraj Pandiarajan
Pandiaraj Maheswari
Sakthivel Venkatesh
Malaisamy Arunkumar
Girish R. Pathade
Deepu Pandita
Anu Pandita
Fazal Ullah
Hosam O. Elansary
Muhammad Nazim
Adel A. Fickak
Mohamed A. Rashwan
Ihab Mohamed Moussa
author_facet Harinathan Balasundaram
Parthasarathy Seethapathy
Subbiah Sankaralingam
Shunmugiah Mahendran
Murugan Mareeswaran
Jeyaraj Pandiarajan
Pandiaraj Maheswari
Sakthivel Venkatesh
Malaisamy Arunkumar
Girish R. Pathade
Deepu Pandita
Anu Pandita
Fazal Ullah
Hosam O. Elansary
Muhammad Nazim
Adel A. Fickak
Mohamed A. Rashwan
Ihab Mohamed Moussa
author_sort Harinathan Balasundaram
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao, a red seaweed widely cultivated for carrageenan polysaccharide, is also a potential source of the valuable pigment phycoerythrin (PE). Therefore, this study aims to extract phycoerythrin from K. alvarezii, evaluate its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities, and identify its biomedical potential for future therapeutic applications. The protein content of phycoerythrin pigment extracted from K. alvarezii was found to be 69.84% and showed excellent antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella oxytoca and Proteus mirabilis, with a minimum inhibition zone of 11 mm. It showed significant in vitro antioxidant activity, as analyzed using total antioxidant, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, reducing power, DPPH, and ABTS assays. Further, the pigment exhibited potent cytotoxicity against a human lung cancer cell line, with an IC50 value of 131.7 µg mL−1. Furthermore, increasing concentration of phycoerythrin pigment decreased the cell proliferation and induced apoptosis, as confirmed by Annexin V/PI staining. Comprehensive characterization using FT-IR, HPLC, and GC-MS analysis revealed the nature of pigment and functional groups, highlighting its potential for biomedical applications. The molecular docking of K. alvarezii-derived compounds revealed significant binding affinities with 13 antibacterial target proteins. These results highlight the potential of K. alvarezii bioactive compounds as promising antibacterial agents. The phycoerythrin extract from K. alvarezii demonstrated potent antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer properties, with significant cytotoxicity against lung cancer cells and confirmed apoptosis induction. Structural analysis revealed its bioactive composition, emphasizing its potential as a natural therapeutic agent. These findings support its potential application in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.
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spelling doaj-art-fa07d45c29ed4a7bbb6bc0ae3500ba092025-08-20T03:42:27ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111810.1038/s41598-025-11899-7Isolation, characterization, and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao: antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activitiesHarinathan Balasundaram0Parthasarathy Seethapathy1Subbiah Sankaralingam2Shunmugiah Mahendran3Murugan Mareeswaran4Jeyaraj Pandiarajan5Pandiaraj Maheswari6Sakthivel Venkatesh7Malaisamy Arunkumar8Girish R. Pathade9Deepu Pandita10Anu Pandita11Fazal Ullah12Hosam O. Elansary13Muhammad Nazim14Adel A. Fickak15Mohamed A. Rashwan16Ihab Mohamed Moussa17Department of Microbiology, Krishna Institute of Science and Technology, Krishna Vishwa VidyapeethAmrita School of Agricultural Sciences, Amrita Vishwa VidyapeethamPG and Research Department of Botany, Saraswathi Narayanan College (Autonomous), Department of Microbiology, Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College (Autonomous)Department of Microbiology, Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College (Autonomous)Department of Biotechnology, Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College (Autonomous)Department of Microbiology, Ayya Nadar Janaki Ammal College (Autonomous)PG and Research Department of Botany, Saraswathi Narayanan College (Autonomous), Transcription Regulation Group, International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)Department of Microbiology, Krishna Institute of Science and Technology, Krishna Vishwa VidyapeethGovernment Department of School EducationVatsalya ClinicCollege of Life Sciences, Northwest Normal UniversityDepartment of Plant Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud UniversityState Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Key Laboratory of Ecological Safety and Sustainable Development in Arid Lands, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of SciencesDepartment of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud UniversityDepartment of Agricultural Engineering, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud UniversityDepartment of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud UniversityAbstract Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao, a red seaweed widely cultivated for carrageenan polysaccharide, is also a potential source of the valuable pigment phycoerythrin (PE). Therefore, this study aims to extract phycoerythrin from K. alvarezii, evaluate its antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities, and identify its biomedical potential for future therapeutic applications. The protein content of phycoerythrin pigment extracted from K. alvarezii was found to be 69.84% and showed excellent antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella oxytoca and Proteus mirabilis, with a minimum inhibition zone of 11 mm. It showed significant in vitro antioxidant activity, as analyzed using total antioxidant, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, reducing power, DPPH, and ABTS assays. Further, the pigment exhibited potent cytotoxicity against a human lung cancer cell line, with an IC50 value of 131.7 µg mL−1. Furthermore, increasing concentration of phycoerythrin pigment decreased the cell proliferation and induced apoptosis, as confirmed by Annexin V/PI staining. Comprehensive characterization using FT-IR, HPLC, and GC-MS analysis revealed the nature of pigment and functional groups, highlighting its potential for biomedical applications. The molecular docking of K. alvarezii-derived compounds revealed significant binding affinities with 13 antibacterial target proteins. These results highlight the potential of K. alvarezii bioactive compounds as promising antibacterial agents. The phycoerythrin extract from K. alvarezii demonstrated potent antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer properties, with significant cytotoxicity against lung cancer cells and confirmed apoptosis induction. Structural analysis revealed its bioactive composition, emphasizing its potential as a natural therapeutic agent. These findings support its potential application in the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11899-7Bioactive moleculesLung cancerMolecular dockingPhycoerythrinPigment analysisRed seaweed
spellingShingle Harinathan Balasundaram
Parthasarathy Seethapathy
Subbiah Sankaralingam
Shunmugiah Mahendran
Murugan Mareeswaran
Jeyaraj Pandiarajan
Pandiaraj Maheswari
Sakthivel Venkatesh
Malaisamy Arunkumar
Girish R. Pathade
Deepu Pandita
Anu Pandita
Fazal Ullah
Hosam O. Elansary
Muhammad Nazim
Adel A. Fickak
Mohamed A. Rashwan
Ihab Mohamed Moussa
Isolation, characterization, and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao: antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities
Scientific Reports
Bioactive molecules
Lung cancer
Molecular docking
Phycoerythrin
Pigment analysis
Red seaweed
title Isolation, characterization, and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao: antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities
title_full Isolation, characterization, and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao: antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities
title_fullStr Isolation, characterization, and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao: antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities
title_full_unstemmed Isolation, characterization, and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao: antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities
title_short Isolation, characterization, and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from Kappaphycus alvarezii (Doty) L. M. Liao: antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities
title_sort isolation characterization and biomedical potential of phycoerythrin phycobiliprotein from kappaphycus alvarezii doty l m liao antimicrobial antioxidant and anticancer activities
topic Bioactive molecules
Lung cancer
Molecular docking
Phycoerythrin
Pigment analysis
Red seaweed
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-11899-7
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