Enzymatic Synthesis and Antimicrobial Activity of Oligomer Analogues of Medicinal Biopolymers from Comfrey and Other Species of the Boraginaceae Family

• Main Authors: Maia Merlani (Author), Dieter M. Scheibel (Author), Vakhtang Barbakadze (Author), Lali Gogilashvili (Author), Lela Amiranashvili (Author), Athina Geronikaki (Author), Valentina Catania (Author), Domenico Schillaci (Author), Giuseppe Gallo (Author), Ivan Gitsov (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

This study reports the first enzymatic synthesis leading to several oligomer analogues of poly[3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)glyceric acid]. This biopolymer, extracted from plants of the Boraginaceae family has shown a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties, including antimicrobial activity. Enzymatic ring opening polymerization of 2-methoxycarbonyl-3-(3,4-dibenzyloxyphenyl)oxirane (MDBPO) using lipase from <i>Candida rugosa</i> leads to formation of poly[2-methoxycarbonyl-3-(3,4-dibenzyloxyphenyl)oxirane] (PMDBPO), with a degree of polymerization up to 5. Catalytic debenzylation of PMDBPO using H₂ on Pd/C yields poly[2-methoxycarbonyl-3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)oxirane] (PMDHPO) without loss in molecular mass. Antibacterial assessment of natural polyethers from different species of Boraginaceae family <i>Symhytum asperum</i>, <i>S. caucasicum,</i><i>S. grandiflorum</i>, <i>Anchusa italica</i>, <i>Cynoglossum officinale,</i> and synthetic polymers, poly[2-methoxycarbonyl-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)oxirane (PMDMPO) and PMDHPO, reveals that only the synthetic analogue produced in this study (PMDHPO) exhibits a promising antimicrobial activity against pathogenic strains <i>S.aureus</i> ATCC 25923 and <i>E.coli</i> ATCC 25922 the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) being 100 µg/mL.

Item Description

10.3390/pharmaceutics14010115
1999-4923