Abstract
Porphyrins and derivatives form one of the most abundant classes of biochromes. They result from the breakdown of heme and have crucial physiological functions. Bilins are well-known representatives of this group that, besides significant antioxidant and anti-mutagenic properties, are also photosensitizers for photodynamic therapies. Recently, we demonstrated that the Polychaeta Eulalia viridis, common in the Portuguese rocky intertidal, holds a high variety of novel greenish and yellowish porphyrinoid pigments, stored as granules in the chromocytes of several organs. On the follow-up of this study, we chemically characterized pigment extracts from the worm’s skin and proboscis using HPLC and evaluated their light and dark toxicity in vivo and ex vivo using Daphnia and mussel gill tissue as models, respectively. The findings showed that the skin and proboscis have distinct patterns of hydrophilic or even amphiphilic porphyrinoids, with some substances in common. The combination of the two bioassays demonstrated that the extracts from the skin exert higher dark toxicity, whereas those from the proboscis rapidly exert light toxicity, then becoming exhausted. One particular yellow pigment that is highly abundant in the proboscis shows highly promising properties as a natural photosensitizer, revealing that porphyrinoids from marine invertebrates are important sources of these high-prized bioproducts.
Highlights
Biological pigments can be defined as any material from biological origin that results in color
One particular yellow pigment that is highly abundant in the proboscis shows highly promising properties as a natural photosensitizer, revealing that porphyrinoids from marine invertebrates are important sources of these high-prized bioproducts
Whereas we previously used extract the pigments, in the present work we opted for extraction in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) to obtain a physiologically
Summary
Biological pigments (biochromes) can be defined as any material from biological origin that results in color They can have many functions, among which mimicking and communication are but a few, and are normally products of complex and varied biosynthetic pathways involving a wide span of enzymes [1]. The best known porphyrinoids are bilins ( termed bilichromes or bile pigments) [2,4], whose coloration can vary between yellow, green, red, and brown [5]. They are secondary metabolites devoid of metal cores and are arranged in linear (chain) structures rather than in the customary
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