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Grant support

This study was funded by grants from the following: the Comunidad de Madrid (project S2009/MAT-1472); the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, MINECO and FEDER: MAT201343299-R and CGL2016-79158-P); and PROMETEO/2017/039 Excellence in Research (Generalitat Valenciana, Spain). M.C. Matesanz is greatly indebted to Spanish Ministry of Education (MEC) for predoctoral fellowship.

Analysis of institutional authors

Morante-Zarcero, SAuthorSierra, IAuthorCatala, MCorresponding Author

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Article

Chemical Characterization of the Lichen-Symbiont Microalga Asterochloris erici and Study of Its Cytostatic Effect on the L929 Murine Fibrosarcoma Cell Line

Publicated to:Processes. 9 (9): 1509- - 2021-09-01 9(9), DOI: 10.3390/pr9091509

Authors: Concepcion Matesanz, M; Villa-Carvajal, Mercedes; Linares, Javier; Morante-Zarcero, Sonia; Sierra, Isabel; Barreno, Eva; Catala, Myriam; Teresa Portoles, M

Affiliations

CIBER BBN, CIBER Bioengn Biomat & Nanomed, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Rey Juan Carlos Univ, ESCET, Dept Biol & Geol Phys & Inorgan Chem, C Tulipan S-N, Madrid 28933, Spain - Author
Rey Juan Carlos Univ, ESCET, Dept Chem & Environm Chem, C Tulipan S-N, Madrid 28933, Spain - Author
Univ Complutense Madrid, Fac Chem, Inst Hlth Res San Carlos IdISSC, Dept Biochem & Mol Biol, Madrid 28040, Spain - Author
Univ Valencia, Fac Biol, ICBIBE, Bot, C Dr Moliner 50, Valencia 46100, Spain - Author
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Abstract

New resources of food, pharmaceuticals or biotechnological products are needed. The huge biodiversity of aero-terrestrial lichen-symbiont microalgae belonging to the Chlorophyta group remains unexplored despite they present interesting features such as extreme stress tolerance and growth in water shortage. Appropriateness for human consumption demands the demonstration of the absence of toxic effects. In vitro biocompatibility of crude homogenates of axenic microalga Asterochloris erici, isolated from the lichen Cladonia cristatella, was analyzed after treatment of cultured L929 fibroblasts with different concentrations of microalgal homogenates. The microalgal protein content (37%) was similar to spirulina or soybean. Antioxidant capacity (10.6 +/- 0.6 mu mol TE/g WW) or phenolic content (7.5 +/- 0.5 mg GAE/g DW) were high compared to Chlorella. The results show that crude homogenates of A. erici do not induce cytotoxicity but seem to have some cytostatic effect inducing slight cell cycle alterations and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) increase at the highest concentration. Carotenoid analysis demonstrates high contents of lutein (1211 mu g/g microalga DW), a xanthophyll with antioxidant and cytostatic properties in vivo and high commercial added value. These findings confirm that Asterochloris erici can be suitable for the development of alimentary or pharmaceutical applications and further in vivo animal testing. The cytostatic effects should be further investigated for antitumor agents.

Keywords

Antioxidant activityBioactivityCarotenoidsChlorellaCytostaticCytotoxicityDiversityGreen-algaeInductionLuteinMaitotoxinMicroalgaPhytochemistryPolysaccharidesRamalina-farinacea

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Processes due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 69/143, thus managing to position itself as a Q2 (Segundo Cuartil), in the category Engineering, Chemical. Notably, the journal is positioned en el Cuartil Q2 para la agencia Scopus (SJR) en la categoría Chemical Engineering (Miscellaneous).

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-06-25:

  • WoS: 1
  • Scopus: 1

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-25:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 17.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 16 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.5.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Catalá Rodríguez, Myriam.