Abstract
Due to sedentary lifestyle and harsh environmental conditions, gorgonian coral extracts are recognized as a rich source of novel compounds with various biological activities, of interest to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The presented study aimed to perform chemical screening of organic extracts and semi-purified fractions obtained from the common Adriatic gorgonian, sea fan, Eunicella cavolini (Koch, 1887) and explore its abilities to exert different biological effects in vitro. Qualitative chemical evaluation revealed the presence of several classes of secondary metabolites extended with mass spectrometry analysis and tentative dereplication by using Global Natural Product Social Molecular Networking online platform (GNPS). Furthermore, fractions F4 and F3 showed the highest phenolic (3.28 ± 0.04 mg GAE/g sample) and carotene (23.11 ± 2.48 mg β-CA/g sample) content, respectively. The fraction F3 inhibited 50% of DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate) and ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazolin-6-yl) sulfonic acid) radicals at the concentrations of 767.09 ± 11.57 and 157.16 ± 10.83 µg/mL, respectively. The highest anti-inflammatory potential was exhibited by F2 (IC50 = 198.70 ± 28.77 µg/mL) regarding the inhibition of albumin denaturation and F1 (IC50 = 254.49 ± 49.17 µg/mL) in terms of soybean lipoxygenase inhibition. In addition, the most pronounced antiproliferative effects were observed for all samples (IC50 ranging from 0.82 ± 0.14–231.18 ± 46.13 µg/mL) against several carcinoma cell lines, but also towards non-transformed human fibroblasts pointing to a generally cytotoxic effect. In addition, the antibacterial activity was tested by broth microdilution assay against three human pathogenic bacteria: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The latter was the most affected by fractions F2 and F3. Finally, further purification, isolation and characterization of pure compounds from the most active fractions are under investigation.
Highlights
Due to the extreme conditions of harsh marine environment, a constant need for the protection from predators and to aid in the hunting process as well as to defend their territory against invading competitors, the flora and fauna of the marine ecosystem are known for their broad chemo- and biodiversity [1,2]
As reviewed by Rocha et al [5] and our group [29], gorgonians have been already proven as a rich source of secondary metabolites displaying various biological activities
The presented research aimed to analyze chemical properties of extracts and semipurified fractions of Eunicella cavolini collected in the Adriatic Sea, as well as their corresponding potential to exhibit antiproliferative, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial activities
Summary
Due to the extreme conditions (temperature, salinity, pressure, variable illumination) of harsh marine environment, a constant need for the protection from predators and to aid in the hunting process as well as to defend their territory against invading competitors, the flora and fauna of the marine ecosystem are known for their broad chemo- and biodiversity [1,2]. Various secondary metabolites, including alkaloids, sterols, terpenoids, peptides and polyketides with unique structural motives and diverse biological activities have been isolated from both marine invertebrates and vertebrates [6]. Sponges and their symbiotic microorganisms were identified as the richest source of secondary metabolites with broad pallet of biological activities. Cnidarians have been significantly less researched [5,16,17,18]. This refers to sedentary soft and stony coral organisms that produce secondary metabolites with protective or signaling functions in order to survive in their often very specific and harsh marine habitats [5,19,20]
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