RESUMO
Antimicrobial resistance of microorganisms and the unwanted side effects of chemoradiation therapy in cancer are major issues in healthcare. In recent times, protein-based drugs have emerged as promising candidates due to their high specificity, less side effects, etc. In this context, the rhizome of Trillium govanianum was first explored for biologically active proteins/peptides. For this, three protein fractions namely Aqueous protein fraction (APF), Hexane-Methanol-treated aqueous protein fraction (HMAPF), and Methanol-treated aqueous protein fraction (MAPF) were prepared and evaluated for antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities. In antifungal activity, HMAPF showed the lowest MIC90 values of 1.56 µg/ml against Candida parapsilosis and Candida glabrata and 3.12 µg/ml against Candida albicans and Candida auris. The antifungal activity was further confirmed by a chitinase assay, a growth kinetics and a proteinase inhibitory assay. Surprisingly, none of the three protein fractions exhibited antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, APF exhibited potent antiproliferative and antioxidant activities with IC50 values of 18 µg/ml and 227 µg /ml, respectively. For HMAPF, an IC50 value of 70 µg/ml against the MDA-MB-231 cell line was observed. The present results demonstrate that the protein fractions, particularly HMAPF and APF, might serve as potential sources of a dual antifungal and antiproliferative protein-based drug.
