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Phycocyanin
Molecular structure representation of phycocyanin,
Reprinted from Chemosphere, Vol. 192, S. Tan et al., In vitro assessment of the toxicity of lead (Pb?") to
phycocyanin, pp. 171-177, Copyright (2018), with permission from Elsevier.
Molecular weight: 81-112 KDa (dependent on source)!
CAS number: 11016-15-2
Phycocyanin is a pigment-binding protein from the phycobiliprotein family that is used in food, pharmaceutical, and
‘cosmetic preparations. There are two types of phycocyanin—characteried as C-phycocyanin and R-phycocyanin—
that are derived from green and red algae, respectively In algae, phycocyanin serves the role of a light harvesting
complex. Its primary use in cosmetics is as a colorant due to its pigment characteristics. In the nutrional supplement
industry, spirulina has become a popular due to its high levels of protein. Spirulina comes from the algae,
Arthrospira plantensis, which produces C-phycocyanin. Spirulina is reported to have antioxidant properties and also
purported as a beneficial agent for cardiovascular health,
‘There has been considerable interest in the skin care arena to elucidate the possible properties of phyc
treating the skin. In terms of skin whitening, C-phycocyanin was reported as an anti-melanogenic agent that
functions by interupting the activity of tyrosinase—the enzyme responsible for two key biosyntheties steps in the
formation of melanin.? There is also interest in developing techniques to encapsulate phycocyanin so that it can be
delivered to the lower layers of the skin to mitigate inflammation and oxidative stress.45 Phycocyanin has also been
shown to beneficially modulate apoptotic pathways in skin cells exposed to UV radiation.¢ Furthermore,
phycocyanin has demonstrated properties in wound healing.” Overall, there appears to be significant potential in
terms of the cosmeceutical properties of phycocyanin.®
swvw.tecasmeticchemistcomimolecule_of
week/phyeocyanin ml we‘re0re020 ‘The Cosmetic Chemist
Properties
Fluorescence: yy = 609 nm, yj = 643 nm in 0.1 M phosphate pH 7.2
References
1. A. Patel, S. Mishra, R. Pawar, and PK. Ghosh, Purification and characterization of C-Phycocyanin from
cyanobacterial species of marine and freshwater habitat, Protein Expr. Purif., 40, 248-255 (2005),
2. Q. Liu, Y. Huang, R. Zhang, T. Cai, and Y. Cai, Medical application of Spirulina platensis derived C-phycocyanin,
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016, Article ID 7803846 (2016).
3. LC. Wu, VY. Lin, S.Y. Yang, YT. Weng, and Y.T. Tsai, Antimelanogenie effect of e-phycocyanin through
‘modulation of tyrosinase expression by upregulation of ERK and downregulation of p38 MAPK signaling pathways,
J. Biomed. Sci., 18, 74 (2011).
4,1. Castangia, M.L. Manea, A. Catalan-Latorre, A.M. Maccioni, A.M. Fadda, and M. Manconi, Phycoeyanin-
encapsulating hyalurosomes as carrier for skin delivery and protection from oxidative stress damage, J. Mater: Sci.
Mater. Med., 27, 75- (2016).
5. M, Manconia, J. Pendés, N. Ledén, T. Moreira, C. Sinico, L. Saso, and A.N. Fadda, Phycocyanin liposomes for
topical anti-inflammatory activity: in- vitro in-vivo studies, J. Pharm. Pharmacol., 61, 423-430 (2009)
6. KM. Kim, J.Y. Lee, A.R. Im, and S. Chae, Phycocyanin protects against UVB-induced apoptosis through the
PKC alll-Nrf-2/HO-1 dependent pathway in human primary skin cells, Molecules, 23, 478 (2018).
7..C.S. Gur, D.K. Erdogan, I. Onbastlar, P. Atilla, N. Cakar, and ILD. Gurhan, In vitro and in vivo investigations of
the wound healing effect of crude Spirulina extract and C-phycocyanin, J. Med. Plants Res., 7, 425-433 (2013).
8. C. Caddeo, M. Chessa, A. Vassallo, R. Pons, O. Diez-Sales, A.M. Fadda and M. Manconi, Extraction, purification
and nanoformulation of natural phycocyanin (from Klamath algae) for dermal and deeper soft tissue delivery, J.
Biomed. Nanotechnol., 9, 1929-1938 (2013),
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