Prodigiosin: a promising biomolecule with many potential biomedical applications

Bioengineered. 2022 Jun;13(6):14227-14258. doi: 10.1080/21655979.2022.2084498.

Abstract

Pigments are among the most fascinating molecules found in nature and used by human civilizations since the prehistoric ages. Although most of the bio-dyes reported in the literature were discovered around the eighties, the necessity to explore novel compounds for new biological applications has made them resurface as potential alternatives. Prodigiosin (PG) is an alkaloid red bio-dye produced by diverse microorganisms and composed of a linear tripyrrole chemical structure. PG emerges as a really interesting tool since it shows a wide spectrum of biological activities, such as antibacterial, antifungal, algicidal, anti-Chagas, anti-amoebic, antimalarial, anticancer, antiparasitic, antiviral, and/or immunosuppressive. However, PG vehiculation into different delivery systems has been proposed since possesses low bioavailability because of its high hydrophobic character (XLogP3-AA = 4.5). In the present review, the general aspects of the PG correlated with synthesis, production process, and biological activities are reported. Besides, some of the most relevant PG delivery systems described in the literature, as well as novel unexplored applications to potentiate its biological activity in biomedical applications, are proposed.

Keywords: Prodigiosin; anticancer; antifungal; antimicrobial; prodigiosin biological activities; prodigiosin production; serratia marcescens.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Antifungal Agents
  • Antineoplastic Agents*
  • Humans
  • Prodigiosin* / pharmacology
  • Serratia marcescens / chemistry

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Antifungal Agents
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Prodigiosin

Grants and funding

The investigations related to the present work were financed by UNLP (X815), CONICET (PIP 0034), and ANPCyT (PICT 2016-4597; PICT 2017-2251; PICT 2017-0359).