Extraction and Purification of R-Phycoerythrin Alpha Subunit from the Marine Red Algae Pyropia Yezoensis and Its Biological Activities

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 26; no. 21; p. 6479
• Main Authors: Ulagesan, Selvakumari, Nam, Taek-Jeong, Choi, Youn-Hee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 27.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Algae; Amino Acid Sequence; Ammonium; Ammonium sulfate; anticancer activity; Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - isolation & purification; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; antioxidant activity; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - chemistry; Antioxidants - isolation & purification; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Aquatic Organisms - chemistry; Biological Products - chemistry; Biological Products - isolation & purification; Biological Products - pharmacology; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Survival - drug effects; Chemical Fractionation - methods; Chromatography, Liquid; Cyanobacteria; Cytotoxicity; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Dyes; Efficiency; Fluorescence; Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching; Fluorescence spectroscopy; Fluorescent indicators; Food; Food industry; Free radicals; Humans; Liver cancer; marine algae; Molecular weight; Peptide Fragments; Pharmaceutical industry; phycoerythrin; Phycoerythrin - chemistry; Pigments; Protein Subunits - chemistry; Protein Subunits - isolation & purification; Protein Subunits - pharmacology; Proteins; Pyropia yezoensis; Rhodophyta; Rhodophyta - chemistry; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Toxicity; phycoerythrin; anticancer activity; Pyropia yezoensis; antioxidant activity; cytotoxicity; marine algae
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules26216479

Phycoerythrin is a major light-harvesting pigment of red algae and cyanobacteria that is widely used as a fluorescent probe or as a colorant in the food and cosmetic industries. In this study, phycoerythrin was extracted from the red algae and purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and various chromatography methods. The purified phycoerythrin was analyzed by UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. The isolated pigment had the typical spectrum of R-phycoerythrin, with a trimmer state with absorbance maxima at 497, 536, and 565 nm. It was further purified and identified by LC-MS/MS and Mascot search. It showed a 100% sequence similarity with the R-phycoerythrin alpha subunit of . The molecular mass was 17.97 kDa. The antioxidant activity of the purified R-phycoerythrin alpha subunit was analyzed. It showed significant antioxidant activity in ABTS and FRAP assays and had significant cytotoxicity against HepG2 cells.