Uma proteína de sementes de Lachesiodendron viridiflorum: uma alternativa para combate de agentes microbianos e células tumoriais

Abstract

Seeds are reservoirs of molecules with great potential for obtaining bioproducts and because of this, a special attention has been directed in the search of bioactive proteins with antimetabolic action and other pharmacological properties. Some seeds present proteins and peptides that play by themselves, multiple roles, such as bactericidal, fungicidal, antitumor, immunomodulatory and hemolytic activities. In this work, a prospection of proteins with multifunctional activities was carried out in seeds extracts from four Fabaceae species: Senna spectabilis (Cassia-do-northeast), Anadenanthera colubrina (Angico), Adenanthera pavonina (Carolina) and Lachesiodendron viridiflorum (Jurema-Juquiri). The extracts were tested for antitriptic, antipapainic, haemagglutinating, hemolytic and cytotoxic on non-tumour cell line activities, highlighting, among them, the extract of L. viridiflorum, whose protein called LvP was purified and chosen for the studies later. When analyzed by SDS-PAGE, LvP had a molecular mass of approximately 17 kDa, with hemolytic and cytotoxic (for mononuclear cells) activities. Even in low concentrations, LvP was able to affect the cell viability of the HeLa, HepG2, HT29, B16, A-375 and A2058 tumor cell lines, but it did not present toxic activity to the 3T3 cell line. LvP was also deleterious for the fungi Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. dubliniensis, C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis. However, when tested against pathogenic bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - MRSA, no bactericidal activity was detected. When LvP was associated with the reference antibiotics, and tested again against bacteria, it was able to reduce the antibiotic MIC up to one dilution for all three species, thus characterizing a synergistic activity of the protein. Based on the data obtained, the isolated LvP corresponds to a multifunctional protein structure, and its antitumor, antimicrobial, fungicide and bactericidal properties need to be investigated in more detail so that its biotechnological potential is better assessed.