Chapter 26 - Antitumor and anticancer activity of biosurfactant

Abstract

Biosurfactants are those organic molecules having a surface activity that was produced by several microbes and are used in various biomedical applications. Microbes-based biosurfactants have been applied in various areas of research such as antibiofilm activity, antimicrobial activity, improving seed protection and fertility, increasing feed digestibility in an agricultural context, plant-pathogen control, wound healing and dermatological care, anticancer treatments, and drug delivery systems, etc. Surfactin, a biosurfactant that has been developed by Bacillus subtilis, is a cyclic lipo-peptide, derived from β-hydroxy fatty acid (containing 13–15 C-atoms) and heptapeptide is a biodegradable, less toxic than chemical surfactants have been applied to show the antitumor and anticancer activity. Surfactin can inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells and induce cancer cell apoptosis, as a fundamental form of cell death that occurs without inducing inflammation. Researchers have been developed the potential of biosurfactants which have been hindered somewhat by the myriad of approaches taken in their investigations, the focus on pathogens as source species, and the costs associated with large-scale production. This aim to write this chapter basically focused on the identification of effective control agents from the biological origin without any alarming side effects of biosurfactants. Here, we have also been focused on various microbial sources of biosurfactants and the current trends in terms of agricultural and biomedical applications.