Anti-cancer biosurfactants

Abstract

Microbial biosurfactants are amphiphilic compounds and surface-active biomolecules produced by several microorganisms. Recently, biosurfactants have emerged as promising agents for cancer therapy since a high diversity of these molecules has shown the ability to induce cytotoxicity against many cancer cell lines, thus regulating cancer progression processes. In this sense, microbial biosurfactants are a potential alternative to current cancer therapeutics and as drug delivery systems of anti-cancer drugs. This chapter covers the current knowledge of microbial surfactants with anti-cancer potential, providing information on their production, structure, and research on different cancer cell lines, such as breast and lungs cancer, leukaemia, melanoma and colon cancer. The potential application of biosurfactants in drug delivery is also reviewed.