Abstract
BackgroundCancer is a leading cause of human death around the world and occurs through the highly complex coordination of multiple cellular pathways. Recent studies have revealed that microalgal extracts exhibit considerable pharmaceutical activities, including those against various cancer cells. Thus, microalgae are promising candidates as novel cancer therapeutic drugs. In this study, we evaluated the biological functions of the ethanolic extract of the Antarctic freshwater microalga, Botryidiopsidaceae sp., such as its antioxidant, anti-proliferative, apoptotic and anti-invasive properties.MethodsTo estimate antioxidant capacity of ethanol extract of Botryidiopsidaceae sp. (ETBO), free radical 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays were used. The anti-proliferative activity of ETBO was assessed in several cancer cell lines (A375, Hs578T and HeLa) and non-tumorigenic keratinocyte cells (HaCaT), using MTT assay. In addition, Annexin V binding was performed to detect ETBO-induced apoptotic cells, and the expression levels of apoptosis-regulating proteins, caspase-3, p53, and Bcl-2, were determined by western blot. Boyden chamber assays were used to determine anti-migratory and anti-invasive properties of ETBO.ResultsETBO exhibited antioxidant activity and concentration-dependent anticancer activities, such as anti-proliferation and pro-apoptotic activities against cancer cells. Furthermore, the expression of the apoptosis-inducing proteins, p53 and caspase-3, significantly increased in response to ETBO, whereas the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2, decreased. These data imply that ETBO induces apoptosis by caspase activation through the modulation of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic gene, p53 and Bcl-2, respectively. In addition, ETBO significantly inhibited migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells in a concentration-dependent manner.ConclusionIn this study, ETBO exhibited considerable anticancer activities, such as inhibition of proliferation, invasion, and migration, as well as induction of apoptosis. These data suggest that ETBO is a promising therapeutic agent in cancer therapy and drug discovery.
Highlights
Cancer is a leading cause of human death around the world and occurs through the highly complex coordination of multiple cellular pathways
We aimed to investigate anticancer activities of ethanolic extract derived from Botryidiopsidaceae sp., an Antarctic freshwater microalga, to determine whether extract of Botryidiopsidaceae sp. (ETBO) contains potential pharmaceutical compounds with anticancer activities
To determine the free radical scavenging capacity of ETBO, we preformed both ABTS and DPPH assays, which are extensively used in spectrophotometric systems to determine the scavenging activities of extracts derived from plant, animal and microorganism
Summary
Cancer is a leading cause of human death around the world and occurs through the highly complex coordination of multiple cellular pathways. The reduction of mitochondrial respiration, one of the dysregulated properties in cancer cells, prevents a complete conversion of glucose into carbon dioxide and water, leading to accumulation of a variety of precursors used by major biosynthetic pathways. This dysregulation of mitochondrial metabolism can cause a increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) to induce DNA damage, causing uncontrolled rapid growth of cancer cells. The comprehensive understanding of the altered metabolism that is a hallmark in cancer cells could be necessary for the development of new anticancer treatments that selectively target oncogenic pathways in tumorigenesis [1,2,3]
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