Prodigiosin and its potential applications

Since a decade, there has been a strong consumer
demand for more natural products. This has augmented inclination
towards substitution of synthetic colorants with natural
pigments. Natural pigments not only have the capacity to increase
the marketability of products, they also demonstrate
valuable biological activities as antioxidants and anticancer
agents. There is a long history of exploitation of natural products
produced by bacteria as sources of pharmaceutically important,
bioactive compounds. Among natural pigments, pigments
from microbial sources are potentially suitable alternatives
to synthetic pigments. The red pigment prodigiosin (PG)
has unusual properties, which have long been documented.
The red-pigmented prodiginines are bioactive secondary metabolites
produced by both Gram-negative and Gram-positive
bacteria. Prodigiosins are characterized by a common pyrrolyl
pyrromethene skeleton, and the biological role of these pigments
in the producer organisms remains unclear. Bacterial
prodigiosins and their synthetic derivatives are effective
proapoptotic agents against various cancer cell lines, with
multiple cellular targets including multi-drug resistant cells
with little or no toxicity towards normal cell lines. However,
research into the biology of pigment production will stimulate
interest in the bioengineering of strains to synthesize
useful prodiginine derivatives. This review article highlights
the characteristics and potential applications of
prodigiosin pigment from Serratia as prodigiosins are real
potential therapeutic drugs.