Cyanobacteria such as Spirulina platensis secretes numerous biomolecules while consuming CO2 for photosynthesis which can reduce the environmental pollution as it can also be grown in wastewater. These biomolecules can be further processed in numerous pathways such as feed, fuel, pharmaceuticals, and nutraceuticals. This study aims to screen the potential molecular mechanisms of pigments from cyanobacteria as antidiabetic type-2 candidates through molecular docking. The activities of the test compounds were compared to commercial diabetic drugs, such as acarbose, linagliptin and polydatin. The results indicated that the binding affinity of pheophytin, β-carotene, and phycocyanobilin to α-amylase were 0.4, 2, and 2.6 kcal/mol higher than that of acarbose with α-amylase. Binding affinity between pheophytin, β-carotene, and phycocyanobilin with α-glucosidase were found to be comparable, which resulted 1.2, and 1.6 kcal/mol higher than that of acarbose with α-glucosidase. Meanwhile, binding activity of β-carotene and phycocyanobilin with DPP-IV were 0.5 and 0.3 kcal/mol higher than that of linagliptin with DPP-IV, whereas pheophytin, β-carotene, and phycocyanobilin with Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) were 0.2, 1, and 1.4 kcal/mol higher from that of polydatin with G6PD. Moreover, pheophytin, β-carotene and phycocyanobilin were likely to inhibit α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and DPP-IV competitively, while uncompetitively for G6PD. Thus, the integration of molecular docking and experimental approach, such as in vitro and in vivo studies may greatly improve the discovery of true bioactive compounds in cyanobacteria for type 2 diabetes mellitus drugs and treatments.
Gelatin hydrogel is widely employed in various fields, however, commercially available gelatin hydrogels are mostly derived from mammalian which has many disadvantages due to the supply and ethical issues. In this study, the properties of hydrogels from fish-derived collagen fabricated with varying Glutaraldehyde (GA) determined. The antidiabetic properties of salmon gelatin (SG) and tilapia gelatin (TG) was also evaluated against α-glucosidase. Glutaraldehyde-crosslinked salmon gelatin and tilapia gelatin were used, and compared with different concentrations of GA by 0.05 %, 0.1 %, and 0.15 %. Water absorbency, swelling, porosity, pore size and water retention of the hydrogels were dependent on the degree of crosslinking. The synthesis of hydrogels was confirmed by FTIR study. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation showed that all hydrogels have a porous structure with irregular shapes and heterogeneous morphology. Performance tests showed that gelatin-GA 0.05 % mixture had the best performance. Antidiabetic bioactivity in vitro and in silico tests showed that the active peptides of SG and TG showed a high binding affinity to α-glucosidase enzyme. In conclusion, SG and TG cross-linked GA 0.05 % have the potential as an antidiabetic agent and as a useful option over mammalian-derived gelatin.