Bionanotechnology of cyanobacterial bioactive compounds

Abstract Cyanobacteria have long been employed for green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles as they are a promising and potential source of biofuels, pharmaceuticals, colored pigments, and other important biomolecules. Current trends show an enhanced application of nanomaterials in the nanobiotechnological sector for the development of new generation medicines. Cyanobacteria are ancient photosynthetic oxygen-evolving prokaryotes that find applications for human usage as dietary supplements, medicine, and cosmetics. They produce a plethora of biologically active and chemically diverse compounds such as alkaloids, lipopeptides, cyclic peptides, fatty acid amides, polysaccharides, and UV-screening compounds. These photoautotrophs serve as potential sources for the extraction of bioactive substances, which are effective anticancerous, antimicrobial, and sunscreen agents along with several other pharmacologically important properties. Researchers have shown promising results regarding the properties of nanoconjugates of cyanobacterial bioactive photoprotective compounds in the biomedical field. So far, not even 10% of microalgal bioactive components have reached commercialized platforms due to difficulties related to solubility. Considering these factors, cyanobacteria should be considered as a potential source of natural products for drug discovery and drug delivery approaches. Nanoformulations employing a wide variety of nanoparticles and their polymerized forms could be an emerging approach to the development of new cancer drugs. This chapter highlights recent research on cyanobacterial photoprotective bioactive secondary metabolites (mycosporine-like amino acids and scytonemin) and discusses applications of their nanoconjugates as efficient drugs.