C-phycocyanin (C-PC) is a protein–pigment widely used in nutrition and pharmaceutical applications. High purity of C-PC is a limiting factor required for its medical use; hence purity improvement with successful plausible pharmaceutical application is the state of the art of the present work. Highly purified C-PC (A₆₂₀/A₂₈₀ = 6.6) was obtained from Thermosynechococcus elongatus. Combined enzymatic cell wall degradation, cellular exposure to high pressure, sonication, and one-time homogenization was found to be an effective purification protocol. Purified complex was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and UV-absorption spectral analysis. Cytotoxic effect of the obtained C-PC was assessed in vitro using a panel of cancer cells. Results showed that MCF-7 cells were most sensitive to C-PC (IC₅₀ = 158.9 µM) compared to Caco-2 (IC₅₀ = 258.3 µM) and HepG2 (IC₅₀ = 277.5 µM) cells. Our findings shed the light on the potential medical use of C-PC isolated from T. elongatus in controlling cancer cells.

C-藻蓝蛋白（C-PC）是一种蛋白质色素，广泛用于营养和制药应用。C-PC的高纯度是其医疗用途的限制因素。因此，通过成功的合理的药物应用来提高纯度是当前工作的最新技术。 从长嗜热球菌获得了高度纯化的C-PC（A ₆₂₀ / A ₂₈₀＝ 6.6）。发现酶细胞壁降解，细胞暴露于高压，超声处理和一次性均质相结合是一种有效的纯化方案。通过SDS-PAGE和UV吸收光谱分析确认了纯化的复合物。在体外评估获得的C-PC的细胞毒性作用使用一组癌细胞。结果显示， 与Caco-2（IC ₅₀  = 258.3 µM）和HepG2（IC ₅₀  = 277.5 µM）细胞相比，MCF-7细胞对C-PC最敏感（IC ₅₀ = 158.9 µM）。我们的发现揭示了从伸长的三叶草中分离出的C-PC在控制癌细胞中的潜在医学用途。