Developments of cyanobacteria for nano-marine drugs: Relevance of nanoformulations in cancer therapies

Vivek K. Bajpai, Shruti Shukla, Sung Min Kang, Seung Kyu Hwang, Xinjie Song, Yun Suk Huh, Young Kyu Han

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

62 Scopus citations

Abstract

Current trends in the application of nanomaterials are emerging in the nano-biotechnological sector for development of medicines. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are photosynthetic prokaryotes that have applications to human health and numerous biological activities as dietary supplements. Cyanobacteria produce biologically active and chemically diverse compounds such as cyclic peptides, lipopeptides, fatty acid amides, alkaloids, and saccharides. More than 50% of marine cyanobacteria are potentially exploitable for the extraction of bioactive substances, which are effective in killing cancer cells by inducing apoptotic death. The current review emphasizes that not even 10% of microalgal bioactive components have reached commercialized platforms due to difficulties related to solubility. Considering these factors, they should be considered as a potential source of natural products for drug discovery and drug delivery approaches. Nanoformulations employing a wide variety of nanoparticles and their polymerized forms could be an emerging approach to the development of new cancer drugs. This review highlights recent research on microalgae-based medicines or compounds as well as their biomedical applications. This review further discusses the facts, limitations, and commercial market trends related to the use of microalgae for industrial and medicinal purposes.

Original languageEnglish
Article number179
JournalMarine Drugs
Volume16
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2018

Keywords

  • Commercial drawbacks
  • Drug development
  • Microalgae/cyanobacteria
  • Nanoformulation

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