Surfactin Ameliorated the Internalization and Inhibitory Performances of Bleomycin Family Compounds in Tumor Cells

Surfactin as an ingredient in cosmetic industry: Benefits and trends

Surfactin is a natural surfactant almost exclusively produced by Bacillus species with excellent physical-chemical, and biological properties. Among innovative applications, surfactin has been recently used as an ingredient in formulations. The antibacterial and anti-acne activities, as well as the anti-wrinkle, moisturizing, and cleansing features, are some of the reasons this lipopeptide is used in cosmetics. Considering the importance of biosurfactants in the world economy and sustainability, their potential properties for cosmetic and dermatological products, and the importance of patents for technological advancement in a circular bioeconomy system, the present study aims to review all patents involving surfactin as an ingredient in cosmetic formulas. This review was conducted through Espacenet, wherein patents containing the terms "cosmetic" and "surfactin" in their titles, abstracts, or claims were examined. Those patents that detailed a specific surfactin dosage within their formulations were selected for analysis. All patents, irrespective of their publication date, from October 1989 to December 2022, were considered. Additionally, a comprehensive search was performed in the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, spanning from their inception until the year 2023. This complementary search aimed to enrich the understanding derived from patents, with a specific emphasis on surfactin, encompassing its associated advantages, efficacy, mechanisms of action on the skin, as well as aspects related to sustainability and its merits in cosmetic formulations. From the 105 patents analysed, 75% belong to Japan (54), China (14), and Korea (9). Most of them were submitted by Asian companies such as Showa Denko (15), Kaneka (11) and Kao Corporation (5). The formulations described are mainly emulsions, skincare, cleansing, and haircare, and the surfactin dose does not exceed 5%. Surfactin appears in different types of formulas worldwide and has a high tendency to be used. Surfactin and other biosurfactants are a promising alternative to chemical ingredients in cosmetic formulations, guaranteeing skin health benefits and minimizing the impact on the environment.

Biosurfactant-amphiphilized hyaluronic acid: A dual self-assembly anticancer nanoconjugate and drug vector for synergistic chemotherapy

Novel amphiphilic nanoconjugates of hyaluronic acid (HA), 50 kDa (HA50) and 100 kDa (HA100), and the lipopeptide biosurfactant surfactin (SF) were developed for potential anticancer applications. Physicochemical characterization indicated the formation of an ester conjugate (HA: SF molar ratio 1: 40) with the HA50-SF derivative exhibiting higher degree of substitution, hydrolytic stability, and surface activity. Self-assembly resulted in nanomicelles with smaller size and greater negative charge relative to SF micelles. Biological data demonstrated distinct anticancer activity of HA50-SF which displayed greater synergistic cytotoxicity and selectivity for MDA-MB 231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells alongside greater modulation of apoptosis-related biomarkers leading to apoptosis. As bioactive vector for chemotherapeutic agents, the selected HA50-SF nanoconjugate efficiently (70 %) entrapped berberine (BER) producing a sustained release BER-HA50-SF synergistic anticancer nanoformulation. Lactoferrin (Lf) coating for dual HA/Lf targeting endowed Lf/BER-HA50-SF with significantly greater selectivity for both cell lines. A murine Ehrlich breast cancer model provided evidence for the efficacy and safety of Lf/BER-HA50-SF via tumoral, histological, immunohistochemical, molecular and systemic toxicity assessments. Thus, HA-SF nanoconjugates integrating the HA and SF properties and biofunctionalties present a novel biopolymer-biosurfactant platform of benefit to oncology nanomedicine and possibly other applications.

A review on surfactin: molecular regulation of biosynthesis

Surfactin has many biological activities, such as inhibiting plant diseases, resisting bacteria, fungi, viruses, tumors, mycoplasma, anti-adhesion, etc. It has great application potential in agricultural biological control, clinical medical treatment, environmental treatment and other fields. However, the low yield has been the bottleneck of its popularization and application. It is very important to understand the synthesis route and control strategy of surfactin to improve its yield and purity. In this paper, based on the biosynthetic pathway and regulatory factors of surfactin, its biosynthesis regulation strategy was comprehensively summarized, involving enhancement of endogenous and exogenous precursor supply, modification of the synthesis pathway of lipid chain and peptide chain, improvement of secretion and efflux, and manipulation some global regulatory factors, such as Spo0A, AbrB, ComQXP, phrCSF, etc. to directly or indirectly stimulate surfactin synthesis. And the current production and separation and purification process of surfactin are briefly described. This review also provides a scientific reference for promoting surfactin production and its applications in various fields.

Microbial Lipopeptides: Properties, Mechanics and Engineering for Novel Lipopeptides

Microorganisms produce active surface agents called lipopeptides (LPs) which are amphiphilic in nature. They are cyclic or linear compounds and are predominantly isolated from Bacillus and Pseudomonas species. LPs show antimicrobial activity towards various plant pathogens and act by inhibiting the growth of these organisms. Several mechanisms are exhibited by LPs, such as cell membrane disruption, biofilm production, induced systematic resistance, improving plant growth, inhibition of spores, etc., making them suitable as biocontrol agents and highly advantageous for industrial utilization. The biosynthesis of lipopeptides involves large multimodular enzymes referred to as non-ribosomal peptide synthases. These enzymes unveil a broad range of engineering approaches through which lipopeptides can be overproduced and new LPs can be generated asserting high efficacy. Such approaches involve several synthetic biology systems and metabolic engineering techniques such as promotor engineering, enhanced precursor availability, condensation domain engineering, and adenylation domain engineering. Finally, this review provides an update of the applications of lipopeptides in various fields.

Itraconazole for Topical Treatment of Skin Carcinogenesis: Efficacy Enhancement by Lipid Nanocapsule Formulations

Itraconazole (ITC), an antifungal drug with anticancer activity, shows potential for oral treatment of skin cancer. There is clinical need for topical ITC for treating low-risk skin carcinogenesis. Our objective was to develop ITC nanoformulations with enhanced anticancer efficacy. Lipid nanocapsules (LNC), either unmodified (ITC/LNC) or modified with the amphiphiles miltefosine (ITC/MF-LNC) or the lipopeptide biosurfactant surfactin (ITC/SF-LNC) as bioactive additives were developed. LNC formulations showed high ITC entrapment efficiency (>98%), small diameter (42-45 nm) and sustained ITC release. Cytotoxicity studies using malignant SCC 9 cells and normal human fibroblasts (NHF) demonstrated significant enhancement of ITC anticancer activity and selectivity for cancer cells by the LNC formulations and a synergistic ITC-amphiphile interaction improving the combination performance. Treatment of intradermal tumor-bearing mice with the ITC nanoformulation gels compared with ITC and 5-FU gels achieved significant tumor growth inhibition that was remarkably enhanced by ITC/MF-LNC and ITC/SF-LNC as well as recovery of skin architecture. Molecularly, tumoral expression of Ki-67 and cytokeratin proliferative proteins was significantly suppressed by LNC formulations, the suppressive effect on cytokeratins was superior to that of 5-FU. These findings provide new evidence for effective topical treatment of low-risk skin carcinogenesis utilizing multiple approaches that involve drug repurposing, nanotechnology, and bioactive amphiphiles as formulation enhancing additives.

Genome mining of Streptomyces sp. CB00271 as a natural high-producer of β-rubromycin and the resulting discovery of β-rubromycin acid

β-rubromycin (β-RUB) (1) is an efficient inhibitor of human telomerase possessing a unique spiroketal moiety as a potential pharmacophore and regarded as a promising anticancer drug lead. But the development of (β-RUB) (1) has long been hampered by its low titer and very poor water solubility. By adopting a genome mining strategy, an FAD-dependent monooxygenase RubN involving with the formation of the spiro system was applied as the probe and Streptomyces sp. CB00271 was screened out from our strain collection as an alternative natural high producer of β-RUB (1). After a series of fermentation optimizations, CB00271 could produce 124.8 ± 3.4 mg/L β-RUB (1), which was the highest titer up to now. Moreover, the enhanced production of β-RUB (1) in fermentation broth also led to the discovery of a new congener β-RUB acid (7), which was structurally elucidated as the acid form of β-RUB (1). Comparing to β-RUB (1), the substituted carboxyl group endowed β-RUB acid (7) much better solubility in serum and resulted in its higher activity towards tumor cells. Our work set up a solid base for the pilot-scale production of β-RUB (1) and its congeners to facilitate their future development as promising anticancer drug leads, and also provide an alternative and practical strategy for the exploitation of other important microbial natural products.