Abstract
Phycocyanin is a type of marine functional food additive, exerting a health care efficacy with no side effects. It has been shown that phycocyanin possesses anticancer function in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, but the underlying regulatory mechanism still remains unclear. Further investigation on the antineoplastic mechanism of phycocyanin would provide useful information on NSCLC treatment. In this study, we explored the in vitro function and mechanism of phycocyanin in three typical NSCLC cell lines, H1975, H1650, and LTEP-a2, for the first time. Phenotypic experiments showed that phycocyanin significantly induced the apoptosis as well as suppressed the growth of NSCLC cells. Transcriptome analysis suggested that toll/interleukin 1 receptor domain-containing adaptor protein (TIRAP) was significantly down-regulated by phycocyanin. Strikingly, similar to phycocyanin-treated assays, siRNA knockdown of TIRAP expression also resulted in the anti-proliferative phenomenon in NSCLC cells. In addition, the activity of NF-κB signaling was also suppressed after silencing TIRAP expression, revealing that phycocyanin exerted anti-proliferative function through down-regulating TIRAP/NF-κB activity in NSCLC cells. Collectively, this study has laid a theoretical basis on the treatment of NSCLC and the potential utilization of marine functional products.
Highlights
As the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, lung cancer continues to impose a major burden on healthcare systems and causes significant challenges for clinicians and patients [1]
Cell proliferation results showed that phycocyanin could significantly suppress the growth of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells from the second (H1650 cell line) or the third (H1975 and LTEP-a2 cell lines) day (Figure 1B)
As phycocyanin inhibited the growth of multiple NSCLC cells, we further studied its effects on apoptosis in H1975, H1650, and LTEP-a2 cells
Summary
As the leading cause of cancer death worldwide, lung cancer continues to impose a major burden on healthcare systems and causes significant challenges for clinicians and patients [1]. Some new approaches such as targeted and immunotherapy have been introduced in NSCLC treatment [1], there still remains a major need for therapy that significantly extends patients survival without compromising quality of life. Spirulina and Cyanobacteria exert multiple potent biological functions, with less or no toxic side effects [4,5], which have become one of the most important resources of novel lead compounds for critical diseases [6]. Phycocyanin, one of the phycobiliproteins derived from Spirulina, can be used as an effective ingredient of food additives, functional healthcare food, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals [7,8]
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