Sargassum horneri inhibits particulate matter-induced apoptotic cell death in splenocytes

Abstract

Abstract Recently, with rapid industrialization, air pollution is a significant public health hazard, and particulate matters (PM), solid or liquid particles small enough to remain airborne, have emerged as the main culprit of it. For instance, exposure to PM is known to induce ROS production, DNA damage, and apoptosis. Sargassum horneri (S. horneri), an brown algae distributed in Korea and Japan, is rich in amino acids, vitamins and polysaccharides. Also, it has been reported to present interesting biological and pharmacological properties including antioxidant, anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory efficacy. The aim of the present study is to examine the cytoprotective effects of S. horneri against PM-induced immune cell death in mice. To identity cytotoxicity of S. horneri, we treated splenocytes with S. horneri alone and could not observe cytotoxicity in the concentrations tested. When we exposed splenocytes to PM with or without S. horneri (62.5–125 μg/ml), we found that S. horneri reduced cytotoxicity due to PM (3.9–1,000 μg/ml). S. horneri treated splenocytes also displayed enhanced proliferation compared to untreated control group. We observed that S. horneri not only decreased oxidative stress due to its notable oxidant scavenging capacity but also reduced PM-induced apoptotic fragments of splenocytes. After S. horneri treatment, cell deaths of PM-challenged splenocytes were decreased. Our results suggest that S. horneri can protect immune cells from PM exposure-induced oxidative stress and cell death. This research is a part of a project titled ‘Development of functional food products with natural materials derived from marine resources’, funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea in 2017 (Project NO. 20170285).