Biocatalytic synthesis, antimicrobial properties and toxicity studies of arginine derivative surfactants

Abstract Two novel arginine-based cationic surfactants were synthesized using as biocatalyst papain, an endopeptidase from Carica papaya latex, adsorbed onto polyamide. The classical substrate N α-benzoyl-arginine ethyl ester hydrochloride for the determination of cysteine and serine proteases activity was used as the arginine donor, whereas decyl- and dodecylamine were used as nucleophiles for the condensation reaction. Yields higher than 90 and 80 % were achieved for the synthesis of N α-benzoyl-arginine decyl amide (Bz-Arg-NHC10) and N α-benzoyl-arginine dodecyl amide (Bz-Arg-NHC12), respectively. The purification process was developed in order to make it more sustainable, by using water and ethanol as the main separation solvents in a single cationic exchange chromatographic separation step. Bz-Arg-NHC10 and Bz-Arg-NHC12 proved antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, revealing their potential use as effective disinfectants as they reduced 99 % the initial bacterial population after only 1 h of contact. The cytotoxic effect towards different cell types of both arginine derivatives was also measured. Bz-Arg-NHCn demonstrated lower haemolytic activity and were less eye-irritating than the commercial cationic surfactant cetrimide. A similar trend could also be observed when cytotoxicity was tested on hepatocytes and fibroblast cell lines: both arginine derivatives were less toxic than cetrimide. All these properties would make the two novel arginine compounds a promising alternative to commercial cationic surfactants, especially for their use as additives in topical formulations.Fil: Fait, María Elisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Garrote, Graciela Liliana. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Criotecnología de Alimentos; ArgentinaFil: Clapés, Pere. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; EspañaFil: Tanco, Sebastian. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; España. Department of Medical Protein Research; Bélgica. University of Ghent; BélgicaFil: Lorenzo, Julia. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Morcelle del Valle, Susana Raquel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; Argentin