Abstract
BackgroundCellfood™ (CF) is a nutritional supplement containing deuterium sulphate, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes, with well documented antioxidant properties. Its organic and inorganic components are extracted from the red algae Lithothamnion calcareum, whose mineral extract has shown growth-inhibitory effect both on in vitro and in vivo models. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antiproliferative effects of CF on leukemic cells. In fact, according to its capacity to modulate O2 availability and to improve mitochondrial respiratory metabolism, we wondered if CF could affect cancer cell metabolism making cells susceptible to apoptosis.MethodsThree leukemic cell lines, Jurkat, U937, and K562, were treated with CF 5 μl/ml up to 72 hours. Cell viability, apoptosis (i.e. caspase-3 activity and DNA fragmentation), hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α) concentration, glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1) expression, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and lactate release in the culture medium were detected and compared with untreated cells.ResultsCF significantly inhibited leukemic cell viability by promoting cell apoptosis, as revealed by caspase-3 activation and DNA laddering. In particular, CF treated cells showed lower HIF-1α levels and lower GLUT-1 expression as compared to untreated cells. At the same time, CF was able to reduce LDH activity and, consequently, the amount of lactate released in the extracellular environment.ConclusionsWe supplied evidence for an antiproliferative effect of CF on leukemia cell lines by inducing cell death through an apoptotic mechanism and by altering cancer cell metabolism through HIF-1α and GLUT-1 regulation. Thanks to its antioxidative and proapoptotic properties, CF might be a good candidate for cancer prevention.
Highlights
CellfoodTM (CF) is a nutritional supplement containing deuterium sulphate, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes, with well documented antioxidant properties
Proliferation of cancer cells is accompanied by glycolysis activation and this altered glucose metabolism is one of the
Shifting metabolism away from mitochondria and towards the cytoplasm might suppress apoptosis, a form of cell death that is dependent on mitochondrial energy production [11,12]
Summary
CellfoodTM (CF) is a nutritional supplement containing deuterium sulphate, minerals, amino acids, and enzymes, with well documented antioxidant properties. Proliferation of cancer cells is accompanied by glycolysis activation and this altered glucose metabolism is one of the. In this context, the hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) has been shown to play a fundamental role [7,8]. HIF-1α is up-regulated and, in turn, activates the expression of glycolytic enzymes (such as LDH) and glucose transporters (such as GLUT-1), and down-regulates the mitochondrial activity through several mechanisms, in particular by inhibiting the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA via the activation of the gene encoding pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 [7,8,9,10]. The glycolytic phenotype has been associated to apoptosis resistance and increased tumor cell proliferation [3,4,13]
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