Promising Anticancer Activity of Batumin: A Natural Polyene Antibiotic Produced By Pseudomonas Batumici

Abstract

Cytotoxicity against melanoma and lung carcinoma cells (IC ≈ 5 μg/ml) was detected. Hypercondensed chromatin and apoptotic body formation in batumin-treated cells suggested the induction of apoptosis supported also by an observed increase in the quantity of cells occupying the sub-G1 cell cycle phase. Twofold reduction in the number and volume of lung metastases in Lewis lung carcinoma (3LL)-bearing batumin-treated mice was demonstrated. Highly specific cytotoxicity of batumin against cancer cell lines potentiates further studies.

Comparison of Structures and Cytotoxicity of Mupirocin and Batumin Against Melanoma and Several Other Cancer Cell Lines

“…3. Affinity of mupirocin to the enzymatic centers of cancer related proteins indicates a possible anticancer activity similar to that reported for batumin [6].…”

“…Mupirocin showed the highest cytotoxic activity against the UCT-Mel 1 melanoma cell line (IC 50 = 5.4 μg/ml) with very low toxicity against the normal skin keratinocytes HaCat (IC 50 = 415.5 μg/ml). The profile of cytotoxic activities of mupirocin was similar to that obtained for batumin [6]…”

“…Recently we have discovered a promising culture-specific anticancer activity of a polyene antibiotic, batumin, synthesized by Pseudomonas batumici [6], which initially had been introduced as an antibiotic against Staphylococcus aureus [7][8][9]. Although there are many distinctions in the chemical structures of batumin and mupirocin (molecular formula of mupirocin is C 26 H 43 O 9 and that of batumin is C 30 H 48 N 2 O 7 ); recently published results of molecular docking suggested that mupirocin, also known as pseudomonic acid A, might have similar molecular targets [10].…”

“…Possible anticancer activities of mupirocin and batumin were predicted by computer-based molecular docking. Later on, a promising culture-specific cytotoxicity against melanoma and several other cancerous cell lines and an anti-metastatic activity were demonstrated experimentally for batumin [6]. Providing that mupirocin has a similar anti-melanoma activity, this drug can be even of a higher practical importance in terms of melanoma prophylaxis due to the long history of successful application of mupirocin in the topical ointment Bactroban TM [14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…Considering the importance of discovery of new effective and non-toxic drugs for melanoma prophylaxis, it was decided to conduct an experimental trial to evaluate the possible anticancer activity of mupirocin using the research protocol which was previously applied to study the anticancer activities of batumin [6]. This study includes molecular docking of mupirocin against active centers of cancer related proteins p53 and Act1; performing cytotoxicity assays on several cancerous cell lines, light microscopy cell morphology and cell cycle progression analysis by means of flow cytometry.…”