Editor's statement This reporrt that phycobiliprotein from algae is capable of stimulating animal cell growth is unique, and raises the possiblity that related compounds such as biliverdin might also be similarly active. Some puzzling aspects, such as the lack of increase in specific activity during purification, as well as the possibility that the activity might be due to a contaminant, remain to be resolved.
Summary
The growth-promoting substances in a non-dialyzable extract of Synechococcus elongatus var. on RPMI 8226 cells (a human myeloma cell line) were separated by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography. By gel filtration with Sepharose 4B, the dialyzate was separated into two fractions. One fraction was green-colored (P-1) and the other was blue-colored (P-2). The P-2 fraction had a higher growth-promoting activity than P-1. By ion exchange chromatography, the P-2 fraction was separated into two blue-colored fractions of phycocyanin and allophycocyanin. Both biliproteins promoted the growth of RPMI 8226 cells; however, allophycocyanin was more active than phycocyanin.
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References
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Shinohara, K., Okura, Y., Koyano, T. et al. Algal phycocyanins promote growth of human cells in culture. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol 24, 1057–1060 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02620882
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02620882