Cytotoxic potential of a pigment from Serratia marcescens against HepG2 and Jurkat cell lines and optimization of culture conditions for enhanced pigment production

Abstract

Background: Pigment from micro-organism is one of the emerging areas of research and many pigments have beenextensively studied for their therapeutic potential. Methodology: Our aim was to analyze the anticancer property of ared pigment extracted from Serratia marcescens JGI 27against HepG2 and Jurkat cell lines. The cell viability wasevaluated by MTT assay. As the red pigment extracted from S. marcescens exhibited high cytotoxicity to the testedcancer cell lines, the pigment production was optimized under various culture conditions like, temperature shock,incubation time, carbon sources, nitrogen sources and metal ions. Pigment yield was analyzed spectrophotometricallyat 487 nm. Results: The IC50 value of the red pigment was calculated around < 20μg/mL concentration. Thepercentage viability of lymphocytes and CHO was found to be negligible at all the selected concentration even after72 hrs of incubation. When the bacterial culture was kept at 37°C for 48 hrs and then 50°C for 48 hrs, the yield of thepigment was found to be highest. Supplimentation of sucrose (1%), beef extract (1%) and Fecl30. 01% resulted inenhanced pigment production from S. marcescens JGI 27. Supplementation with the metal ions with at concentrationresulted in highest pigment production. Conclusion: It is concluded that red pigment from S. marcescens JGI 27 wasfound to have a promising cyotoxic effect against HepG2 and Jurkat cell lines and it is non-toxic to normal peripheralhuman lymphocytes and CHO cell lines. At optimum physical and cultural parameters the pigment production wasfound to be highest.