Characterization of Serratia marcescens (OK482790)’ prodigiosin along with in vitro and in silico validation for its medicinal bioactivities

Abstract Background Microbial prodigiosin pigment has been proposed as a promising biomolecule having an antibacterial, immunosuppressive, antimalarial, antineoplastic, and anticancer activities. The good outcome originates from getting natural pigment, which has many medical applications. Results In this investigation, prodigiosin (PG) was extracted, characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, thin-layer chromatography, mass spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and tested in various medical applications as an antibacterial, antioxidant, antibiofilm, anticancer, and wound healing agent at different concentrations. Antibacterial activity of PG pigment was shown against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. Enterococcus faecalis was the most severely impacted, with minimum inhibitory value of 3.9 µg/mL. The formed biofilm by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was suppressed by 58–2.50% at prodigiosin doses ranging from 1000 to 31.25 µg/mL, respectively. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 2,2’-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) free radical was 74.18 ± 23.77 µg/mL. At 100 µg/mL concentration, OK482790 prodigiosin had no harmful effect on normal skin cells and exhibited mild wound healing properties. Additionally, molecular docking simulations confirmed the prodigiosin’s interactions with target proteins, including epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK, PDB ID: 1M17), peptide deformylase from E. faecalis (PDB ID: 2OS1), acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-1, PDB ID: 3K1X), PA14_16140 protein from P. aeruginosa (PDB ID: 8Q8O), and human peroxiredoxin 5 (PDB ID: 1HD2) for explaining the anticancer, antibacterial, wound healing, antibiofilm, and antioxidant activities, respectively. Prodigiosin had favorable binding affinities and putative modes of action across various therapeutic domains. Conclusion This study pioneers the use of prodigiosin as a natural alternative to synthetic medicine since it fights germs, heals wounds, is antioxidant, and reduces biofilm formation. Clinical trial number Not applicable.