ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Antibiotic Resistance and New Antimicrobial drugs
This article is part of the Research TopicAccelerating Antibiotic Development from Natural Products: Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)View all 6 articles
The role of cyano-phycocyanin as a quorum sensing inhibitor to attenuate Pseudomonas aeruginosa virulence
Provisionally accepted
Jun Ying1
Shiqun Guo1Yunru Pan2
Dong Li1Yijia Tai1Yue Li1Qinyu Lin1Lingling Pan3Dadao Huang3Hanqi Xiao3Ruowang Pan3Xiaomin Xu4
Jing Xie4Zhefeng Lou1
Peizhen Li1*- 1Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
- 2Wenzhou Semir United International School, Wenzhou, China
- 3No. 906 Hospital of Joint LogisticSupport Force of PLA, Wenzhou, China
- 4Wenzhou People's Hospital, Wenzhou, China
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Introduction: In recent years, developing drugs that directly target pathways related to the pathogenic mechanisms of bacteria has been a research hotspot, and quorum sensing (QS) is one of the most effective strategies to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria. We evaluated the inhibitory effect of cyano-phycocyanin (C-PC) on the virulence of PA2 in vitro and in vivo and explored its potential as a quorum sensing inhibitor (QSI). Methods: In this study, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and growth curve of C-PC on PA2 were determined, and the effect of C-PC on QS-regulated virulence factors and the anti-biofilm activity of C-PC against PA2 were investigated. The Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS) were analyzed by HPLC system and the expression levels of QS signaling molecules, virulence genes, biofilm and movement-related genes were detected by qPCR. The macrophage and mouse infection model were used to explore the anti-infection ability of C-PC in vitro and in vivo. Results: C-PC attenuated biofilm formation, pyocyanin synthesis, motility, and PQS signaling molecule production. Moreover, C-PC significantly downregulated the transcription levels of QS-related genes in PA2, including pqsA and pqsR, as well as the expression of virulence factor genes phzA, lasA, lasB, flgF, fliE, exoS, exsA, lecA, popB, vasG, chiC, pelF, pslB, qseB, and pgsR. In vitro, C-PC reduced the adhesion and invasion of PA2 in RAW264.7 cells, and decreased LDH release and macrophage damage caused by PA2 infection. In vivo, C-PC reduced the pathogenicity of PA2 and improved mouse survival rates, showing a protective effect. Conclusion: Taken together, these results suggest that C-PC showed strong anti-QS activity, providing new insights into the development of strategies against PA infection.
Keywords: C-PC, PQS, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Biofilm, RAW264.7
Received: 08 May 2025; Accepted: 31 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ying, Guo, Pan, Li, Tai, Li, Lin, Pan, Huang, Xiao, Pan, Xu, Xie, Lou and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Peizhen Li, lpz0522@126.com
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