Abstract
Microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms adapted to live in very different environments and showing an enormous biochemical and genetic diversity, thus representing an excellent source of new natural products with possible applications in several biotechnological sectors. Microalgae-derived compounds have shown several properties, such as anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory. In the last decade, compounds stimulating the immune system, both innate immune response and adaptive immune response, have been used to prevent and fight various pathologies, including cancer (cancer immunotherapy). In this review we report the microalgae that have been shown to possess immunomodulatory properties, the cells and the cellular mediators involved in the mechanisms of action and the experimental models used to test immunostimulatory activities. We also report information on fractions or pure compounds from microalgae identified as having immunostimulatory activity. Given the increasing interest in microalgae as new eco-friendly source of bioactive compounds, we also discuss their possible role as source of new classes of promising drugs to treat human pathologies.
Highlights
The potential of microalgae as source of novel drugs has recently generated a great interest for the scientific community
Several studies showed that microalgal raw extracts, fractions, and pure compounds had biological activities [1], such as anticancer [2], anti-microbial [3], anti-epilepsy [4], anti-inflammatory [5,6], and immunomodulatory activities [7]
This review is focused on microalgae with immunomodulatory activity, active microalgal raw extracts, fractions, the most promising immunomodulatory compounds and the mechanisms of action, giving an overview of their pharmaceutical potential
Summary
The potential of microalgae as source of novel drugs has recently generated a great interest for the scientific community. Immune system cells regulate their activities through a plethora of different mediators Cellular mediators of these processes are cytokines, that include interleukins, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), and interferon γ (INF-γ) produced predominantly by macrophages and lymphocytes [26]. Immunomodulation includes the activation of immune system to reduce inflammatory processes (e.g., immune system response to injury and infection) and fight diseases such as microbial infections and cancer (e.g., vaccination to fight infection by pathogenic agents or more recently immunotherapy to fight cancer). The research of novel and nontoxic compounds from natural sources for cancer treatments is necessary because of toxicity and sometimes low specificity of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, as well as adverse reactions in patients Both innate and adaptive immune system may be engaged against cancer [30,31] and there are different ways in which immune system can be used against cancer disease:. This review is focused on microalgae with immunomodulatory activity, active microalgal raw extracts, fractions, the most promising immunomodulatory compounds and the mechanisms of action, giving an overview of their pharmaceutical potential
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