Could eumelanin molecule from Streptomyces parvus BSB49 strain be a potential anticancer agent for lung cancer?

Melanins, which are divided into five different subgroups as eumelanin, pheomelanin, allomelanin, neuromelanin and pyomelanin, are a heterogeneous and amorphous biopolymer family. Although melanin is produced in many different ways today, it is more practical, and more economical to produce melanin using bacterial strains. The eumelanin pigment, which is the subject of this study, was obtained using Streptomyces parvus BSB49 strain, and its antiproliferative effect at various concentrations against small cell (DMS-114) and non-small cell (H-460) lung cancer was determined. According to our results, the synthesized eumelanin molecule was statistically cytotoxic on non-small cell lung cancer cell line (H-460) at concentrations of 3.125 and 1.56 μg/mL after 24 hours of treatment (IC50=8 μg/mL) and only at a concentration of 3.125 μg/mL after 48 hours of treatment (IC50=8.4 μg/mL). In the small cell lung cancer cell line (DMS-114), no statistically cytotoxic concentration was detected (p<0.05).