Marine Benthic Diatoms Contain Compounds Able to Induce Leukemia Cell Death and Modulate Blood Platelet Activity

Abstract

In spite of the high abundance and species diversity of diatoms, only a few bioactive compounds from them have been described. The present study reveals a high number of mammalian cell death inducing substances in biofilm-associated diatoms sampled from the intertidal zone. Extracts from the genera Melosira, Amphora, Phaeodactylum and Nitzschia were all found to induce leukemia cell death, with either classical apoptotic or autophagic features. Several extracts also contained inhibitors of thrombin-induced blood platelet activation. Some of this activity was caused by a high content of adenosine in the diatoms, ranging from 0.07 to 0.31 μg/mg dry weight. However, most of the bioactivity was adenosine deaminase-resistant. An adenosine deaminase-resistant active fraction from one of the extracts was partially purified and shown to induce apoptosis with a distinct phenotype. The results show that benthic diatoms typically found in the intertidal zone may represent a richer source of interesting bioactive compounds than hitherto recognized.

The place of diatoms in the biofuels industry

“…Highly branched C25 isoprenoidpolyenes (polyunsaturated sesterpenes oils orhaslenes) were identified as being responsible for these activities [122]. A recent report documented that marine benthic diatoms contain compounds able to induce leukemia cell death and modulate blood platelet activity [123] suggesting that diatoms may represent a richer source of interesting bioactive compounds than previously recognized.…”

Characterisation of nucleosides and nucleobases in Mactra veneriformis by high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detector-mass spectrometry (HPLC–DAD–MS)

“…Besides, it was also found that M. veneriformis contained nucleosides. Studies showed that nucleosides and their bases involved in regulating and modulating physiological processes in body and exhibited various bioactivities (Carver & Walker, 1995;Sánchez-Pozo & Gil, 2002), such as antiplatelet aggregation (Prestegard et al, 2009), antiarrhythmic (Headrick, Peart, Reichelt, & Haseler, 2011), anticancer (Prestegard et al, 2009;Shelton, Burt, & Peterson, 2011), and antioxidant (Tarozzi et al, 2010). For the long history of use, it is indeed necessary for establishing a proper method on the quality control of M. veneriformis both in food and TCM applications.…”

Photosynthetic marine organisms as a source of anticancer compounds

“…4. Cytotoxicity against acute myelogenic leukaemia cells has also recently been recently reported in extracts isolated from Norwegian benthic diatoms (Prestegard et al 2009). …”