Therapeutic potential of crude protein extracts from two Egyptian freshwater snails Lanistes carinatus and Bellamya unicolor

Abstract

Abstract Freshwater snails are emerging sources of bioactive molecules with potential biomedical and therapeutic relevance. This study evaluated crude protein extracts from two Egyptian freshwater snails, Lanistes carinatus and Bellamya unicolor , for antioxidant enzymes, antimicrobial and antibiofilm activities, cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines, and peptide composition. Both species exhibited low activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione S-transferase (GST), with slightly higher levels in L. carinatus . Despite this, the crude protein extracts inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus ; L. carinatus showed stronger antifungal activity against Candida albicans , while neither extract affected Aspergillus niger . Selective cytotoxicity was observed : L. carinatus was most active against MCF-7 and HeLa cells, whereas B. unicolor was highly potent against HCT-116 and moderately active against PC3 cells, with minimal effects on normal WI-38 cells. LC–MS/MS identified 26 short peptides, likely contributing to the antimicrobial and anticancer activities.These findings provide preliminary evidence of the therapeutic potential of L. carinatus and B. unicolor crude protein extracts, highlighting freshwater snails as candidate sources of bioactive molecules that merit further investigation.