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Harvested Laminaria hyperborea contributes to approximately 3.3 million tonnes of epiphytes discarded as waste despite containing organisms such as red algae and bryozoa, known to produce a range of high-value and bioactive compounds. Our research aim is to valorize epiphyte biomass by exploring the cytotoxic and antimicrobial potential in various extracts and optimized fractionation by flash chromatography. All extracts and fractions were tested for cytotoxicity towards cell lines derived from Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), prostate cancer (PC-3), and breast cancer (MCF-7), as well as non-tumorigenic cell lines from the kidney and heart using metabolic activity as a read-out. Antimicrobial activity was assessed using microplate based Alamar Blue assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to determine the MIC against various human pathogens. Six extracts demonstrated significant cytotoxicity across all five cell lines (EC50 values below 46 µg/mL), while hexane extract selectively targeted AML cells with EC50 of 1.1 µg/mL. The hexane and ethyl acetate extracts displayed antimycobacterial and antifungal activity (MIC 100 µg/mL). A multistep flash fractionation of the methanolic extract revealed several cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities. The flash fractions displayed a selective activity pattern depending on the elution solvent. Nine fractions were cytotoxic towards all cell lines (EC50 below 72 µg/mL), and four were highly cytotoxic (EC50 below 5.4 µg/mL). Two non-polar fractions were selective for the AML cell line. These results highlight the potential for discovering anticancer and antimicrobial compounds in epiphytes from Laminaria, necessitating further research on their active compounds. Overall, this work underscores the environmental and scientific value of converting marine by-products into a valuable resource, aligning with sustainability and ethical goals.

Fucoidans are algal polysaccharides that exhibit protective properties against oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to investigate different fucoidans from brown seaweeds for their ability to protect against iron-dependent oxidative stress (ferroptosis), a main hallmark of retinal and brain diseases, including hemorrhage. We investigated five new high-molecular weight fucoidan extracts from Fucus vesiculosus, F. serratus, and F. distichus subsp. evanescens, a previously published Laminaria hyperborean extract, and commercially available extracts from F. vesiculosus and Undaria pinnatifida. We induced oxidative stress by glutathione depletion (erastin) and H2O2 in four retinal and neuronal cell lines as well as primary cortical neurons. Only extracts from F. serratus, F. distichus subsp. evanescens, and Laminaria hyperborea were partially protective against erastin-induced cell death in ARPE-19 and OMM-1 cells, while none of the extracts showed beneficial effects in neuronal cells. Protective fucoidans also attenuated the decrease in protein levels of the antioxidant enzyme GPX4, a key regulator of ferroptosis. This comprehensive analysis demonstrates that the antioxidant abilities of fucoidans may be cell type-specific, besides depending on the algal species and extraction method. Future studies are needed to further characterize the health-benefiting effects of fucoidans and to determine the exact mechanism underlying their antioxidative abilities.

Background: Sulfated fucans show interesting effects in the treatment of ocular diseases (e.g., age-related macular degeneration), depending on their chemical structure. Here, we compared three purified sulfated fucans from Laminaria hyperborea (LH) regarding cell viability, oxidative stress protection, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion in ocular cells. Methods: High-molecular-weight sulfated fucan (Mw = 1548.6 kDa, Fuc1) was extracted with warm water and purified through ultrafiltration. Lower-molecular-weight samples (Mw = 499 kDa, Fuc2; 26.9 kDa, Fuc3) were obtained by mild acid hydrolysis of ultrapurified sulfated fucan and analyzed (SEC-MALS (Size-exclusion chromatography-Multi-Angle Light Scattering), ICP-MS, and GC). Concentrations between 1 and 100 µg/mL were tested. Cell viability was measured after 24 h (uveal melanoma cell line (OMM-1), retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell line ARPE-19, primary RPE cells) via MTT/MTS (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide/3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) assay. Oxidative stress protection was determined after 24 h (OMM-1, ARPE-19). VEGF secretion was analyzed via ELISA after three days (ARPE-19, RPE). Results: Fuc2 and Fuc3 were antiproliferative for OMM-1, but not for ARPE. Fuc1 protected OMM-1. VEGF secretion was lowered with all fucans except Fuc3 in ARPE-19 and RPE. The results suggest a correlation between molecular weight and biological activity, with efficiency increasing with size. Conclusion: The LH sulfated fucan Fuc1 showed promising results regarding VEGF inhibition and protection, encouraging further medical research.