Proteomics analysis of crude squid ink isolated from Sepia esculenta for their antimicrobial, antibiofilm and cytotoxic properties

The present study deals with the proteomics analysis of crude squid ink isolated from Sepia esculenta for their antibacterial, antifungal, antibiofilm and cytotoxic properties. To achieve this, SDS-PAGE was used to separate proteins as bands, In-gel trypsin digested and analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. A total of 4 bands were identified by MASCOT search analysis namely astacin-like squid metalloprotease type I (ASMT-I), 70 kDa neurofilament protein (NP), uncharacterized protein LOC106181966 isoform X1 (UP-Iso-X1) and Ommochrome-binding protein (Oc-BP). Further, the obtained crude squid proteins were subjected to antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities against pathogenic bacterial and fungal strains respectively. Further, MTT assay was also carried out to deliberately explain the cytotoxic ability of crude squid ink protein against MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. The results from the study revealed that, the proteins are shown to be toxic against pathogenic strains and breast cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. More importantly, the proteins are well enough to eradicate biofilms substantiated by light and confocal laser scanning microscopic observations. Altogether, the crude squid ink proteins hampered the growth of breast cancer cells with an IC50 value of 65.3 ± 0.46 μg mL−1. In conclusion, it is believed that the proteins from crude squid ink will provide new insights in hampering bacterial biofilms and cancer in near future.