Evaluation of anti-cancer, anti-microbial and anti-biofilm potential of biosurfactant extracted from an Acinetobacter M6 strain

Biosurfactants are amphiphilic compounds produced by bacteria either extracellularly or as a part of the cell membrane. Biosurfactants have had a profound impact on medical and pharmaceutical biotechnology. In our previous work, we isolated a new biosurfactant produced by Acinetobacter indicus M6 which reduces the surface tension of water from 72.0 to 39.8 mN/m and which showed thermophilic, halophytic and acidophilic stability. The chemical nature was found to be a class of glycolipoprotein. Here, our research presents the extracted biosurfactant’s anti-proliferative activity against lung cancer cells (A549), and anti-microbial and anti-biofilm activity against MRSA. The anti-tumour activity of biosurfactant against lung cancer cells was evaluated in terms of cell viability at different concentrations. The results showed a decrease in the percentage of lung cancer viable cells with increasing biosurfactant concentrations and incubation time, with a significant decrease being observed at 200 µg/ml concentration leading to cell proliferation inhibition at G1 phase. Treatment of biofilms for seven days at 500 µg/ml resulted in up to 82.5% biofilm disruption. Keywords: Biosurfactant, Acinetobacter indicus M6, Cell viability, Anti-proliferative activity, Anti-biofilm activity