Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Edaphology and Agricultural Chemistry Department, Faculty of Sciences, University of Alicante, Ap. 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain.
Multidisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies "Ramón Margalef", University of Alicante, Ap. 99, E-03080 Alicante, Spain.
Mar Drugs. 2024 Sep 29;22(10):448. doi: 10.3390/md22100448.
Haloarchaea are a group of moderate and extreme halophilic microorganisms, belonging to the Archaea domain, that constitute relevant microbial communities in salty environments like coastal and inland salted ponds, marshes, salty lagoons, etc. They can survive in stress conditions such as high salinity and, therefore, high ionic strength, high doses of ultraviolet radiation (UV), high temperature, and extreme pH values. Consequently, most of the species can be considered polyextremophiles owing to their ability to respond to the multiple extreme conditions characterizing their natural habitats. They cope with those stresses thanks to several molecular and metabolic adaptations. Thus, some of the molecules produced by haloarchaea show significantly different biological activities and physicochemical properties compared to their bacterial counterparts. Recent studies have revealed promising applications in biotechnology and medicine for these biomolecules. Among haloarchaeal biomolecules, rare natural pigments (C carotenoids) and small peptides called halocins and microhalocins have attracted attention worldwide due to their effects on animal and human commercial tumoral cells, apart from the role as antibiotics described for halocins or the immunomodulatory activity reported from C carotenoids like bacterioruberin. This review summarizes recent knowledge on these two types of biomolecules in connection with cancer to shed new light on the design of drugs and new therapies based on natural compounds.
嗜盐古菌是一组中温和极端嗜盐微生物，属于古菌域，构成了沿海和内陆盐池、沼泽、咸泻湖等盐环境中的相关微生物群落。它们可以在高盐度和高离子强度、高剂量紫外线辐射 (UV)、高温和极端 pH 值等压力条件下生存。因此，由于它们能够应对其自然栖息地特征的多种极端条件，大多数物种都可以被认为是多极端微生物。它们通过几种分子和代谢适应来应对这些压力。因此，一些由嗜盐古菌产生的分子与细菌同类相比具有显著不同的生物学活性和物理化学性质。这些生物分子在生物技术和医学领域的应用具有广阔的前景。在嗜盐古菌生物分子中，稀有天然色素（C 类胡萝卜素）和称为卤虫素和微卤虫素的小肽引起了全球的关注，因为它们对动物和人类商业肿瘤细胞具有作用，除了卤虫素有抗生素作用或 C 类胡萝卜素如菌红素具有免疫调节活性的作用。本文综述了这两种类型的与癌症相关的生物分子的最新知识，为基于天然化合物的药物设计和新疗法提供了新的思路。
