In vitro anticancer activity of polysaccharide extracted from red alga Jania rubens against breast and colon cancer cell lines

Objective: To evaluate the potential role of the polysaccharides of the marine algae as an anticancer agent in vitro against colon cancer cell line (CoCa2) and breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines and to measure lactate dehydrogenase enzyme (LDH) activity as biomarker of membrane integrity of the cells. Methods: The cells of breast cancer (MCF7) and colon cancer (CoCa2) were used to evaluate the potential anticancer role of the polysaccharides of marine algae. Anti-proliferative activity against MCF7 and CoCa2 cell lines were evaluated in vitro by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results: The in vitro assay of the antioxidant activity of eight marine seaweed species showed that the red seaweed Jania rubens (J. rubens) had the highest DPPH (2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging activity. The extracted polysaccharides with concentrations 0.1–40.0 mg/mL from J. rubens were tested for its anticancer potentiality and cytotoxic effects against the cell lines of human breast (MCF7) and colon cancer (CoCa2) cell lines by MTT assay. The inhibitory concentration at 50 (IC50) value the of J. rubens polysaccharide extract was 0.312 5 mg/mL for MCF7 and 20 mg/mL for CoCa2. LDH activity and annexin V concentration were higher in the treated MCF7 and CaCo2 cells than in the untreated ones. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction technique indicated that the polysaccharide treatments caused up-regulation of Bax, caspase 8 and P53 genes expression in CoCa2 cells, and up-regulation of caspase 3 and down-regulation of Bcl2 genes expression in MCF7 cells. Conclusions: The polysaccharides of the red marine alga J. rubens could be a potential candidate for the natural compounds as antioxidant and anticancer therapy.