Pharmacology and toxicology of pahayokolide A, a bioactive metabolite from a freshwater species of Lyngbya isolated from the Florida Everglades

by Berry, J. P.; Gantar, M.; Gawley, R. E.; Wang, M. L.; Rein, K. S.

The genus of filamentous cyanobacteria, Lyngbya, has been found to be a rich source of bioactive metabolites. However, identification of such compounds from Lyngbya has largely focused on a few marine representatives. Here, we report on the pharmacology and toxicology of pahayokolide A from a freshwater isolate, Lyngbya sp. strain 15-2, from the Florida Everglades. Specifically, we investigated inhibition of microbial representatives and mammalian cell lines, as well as toxicity of the compound to both invertebrate and vertebrate models. Pahayokolide A inhibited representatives of Bacillus, as well as the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Interestingly, the compound also inhibited several representatives of green algae that were also isolated from the Everglades. Pahayokolide A was shown to inhibit a number of cancer cell lines over a range of concentrations (IC50 varied from 2.13 to 44.57 muM) depending on the cell-type. When tested against brine shrimp, pahayokolide was only marginally toxic at the highest concentrations tested (1 mg/mL). The compound was, however, acutely toxic to zebrafish embryos (LC50=2.15 muM). Possible biomedical and environmental health aspects of the pahayokolides remain to be investigated; however, the identification of bioactive metabolites such as these demonstrates the potential of the Florida Everglades as source of new toxins and drugs.

Journal
Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology C-Toxicology and Pharmacology
Volume
139
Issue
4
Year
2004
Start Page
231-238
URL
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cca.2004.11.005
ISBN/ISSN
1878-1659; 1532-0456
DOI
10.1016/j.cca.2004.11.005