Cyanobacteria as a Source of Bioactive Compounds with Anticancer, Antibacterial, Antifungal, and Antiviral Activities: A Review

Abstract

Cyanobacteria a group of photosynthetic microorganisms, exist in almost all ecosystems in the world. Regarding health and disease prevention, cyanobacteria have been cited as a promising natural source of diverse secondary metabolites that exhibit significant bioactivities with potential pharmacological uses. Presently, great attention has been concentrated on the anticancer role of aquatic cyanobacteria that comprise an important source of bioactive compounds. Cyanobacteria-derived natural compounds and their synthetic analogs exhibited attractive results and showed remarkable activity by reaching phase II and III clinical trials successfully. Therefore, natural products from cyanobacteria might represent promising sources for novel anticancer therapy. Besides, microbial infections and infectious diseases from antimicrobial resistance (AMR) pose a direct threat to health and well-being because of the increase in antimicrobial resistance and the evolution of novel pathogenic strains. The search for novel antibiotics become increasingly urgent. Extensive efforts have been invested to find antimicrobial compounds from cyanobacteria to limit the misuse of commercial antibiotics. The development of natural anticancer and antimicrobial compounds from fresh water and marine cyanobacterial metabolites is a valuable trial. This review article summarizes the reported anticancer, antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties of cyanobacteria and their mechanisms of action.