Plant and algal natural products for tumor and antimicrobial phototherapy: an overview of species, photototoxic molecules and innovations.
Abstract : Bacterial and tumor chemoresistance is a worldwide problem that poses a global threat to human and animal health. Medicine is becoming increasingly helpless in the face of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections and chemoresistant tumors, which will become the leading cause of death by 2050. Antitumoral and Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy is an alternative strategy that could help overcome these obstacles. Natural or synthetic photosensitizers can be activated by light irradiation at an appropriated wavelength and generate reactive oxygen species. They can be used to destroy tumors, tumor blood vessels, viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites and find applications to eradicate microbial contamination on biotic (skin, wounds) or abiotic surfaces (hospital equipment, appliances and clothing). In this talk, we will present a review of our work on the search for new phototoxic natural products in plants and algae, with a particular focus on Brazilian biodiversity. The development of innovative phototoxic biomaterials and selected examples of applications for the treatment of acne, wound infections and tumors will be discussed. Moreover, we will demonstrate the important role of building bilateral research networks between countries such as Brazil and France, such as the The Franco-Brazilian Network on Natural Products (FB2NP).