The potential of Brachionus plicatilis extract against bacterial infection and cancer: In Vitro and In Silico Studies

Drug discovery may open new horizons and new avenues to bring new neutral compounds into the drug trade. Furthermore, about 50% of modern synthetic drugs are originated directly or indirectly from natural products. The goal of the study is to investigate the effect of crude B. plicatilis extracts versus the three human cancer cell lines. Also, it was tested as an antimicrobial for5 strain Gram-positive and 2 strain Gram-negative bacteria. By using GC-MS, its chemical composition was also examined. A GC-MS analysis of the B. plicatilis extract revealed 31 components. The major identified compounds are Benzene propanoic acid,3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-hydroxy-, octadecyl ester (23.76%), and 1,4-benzenediol, 2-(1,1-dimethylethyl)-5-(2-propenyl) (15.68%). B. plicatilis extract exhibited a moderate cytotoxicity activity of (IC50 = 83.78, 82.89, and 69.78 ug/ ml) against the cancer cell lines HepG2, A549, and Caco2, respectively. While, the cytotoxicity effect of staurosporine on the three cell lines was IC50 = 67.27, 64.97, and 63.75 ug/ ml, respectively. In the current study, the crude extract of B. plicatilis exhibited antimicrobial ability against three Gram-negative and four Gram-positive bacteria. The greater inhibition activities were achieved against Sarcina lutea and against Salmonella typhi. Additionally, investigations of compounds 1 and 2 using molecular docking in the DNA gyrase binding site was carried out, and the results matched the in vitro inhibitory findings. B. plicatilis extract provides opportunity for further investigation in the search for novel anticancer substances. Additionally, they are promising as an origin of bioactive compounds that can replace antibiotics in clinical settings