Anti-proliferative and apoptotic activity of polyphenol-rich crude methanol extract of Gracillaria edulis against human Rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell lines

Abstract

Seaweeds are an important source of bioactive metabolites in the development of drugs and nutraceuticals. This study aimed to analyze the anti-proliferative and apoptotic activity of methanol extract (ME) of G.edulis on human Rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell lines. De-polysaccharide ME of G.edulis was extracted to determine the anti-proliferative and apoptotic activity. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated by MTT and neutral red uptake assay, while apoptotic activity was characterized by cellular morphology, DNA fragmentation and Caspase 3/7 assay. The results of cytotoxicity assay showed that the decrease of the percentage of cell viability in a dose-dependent manner as signified by cell death. The apoptosis was induced by activating the Caspase 3/7 pathway and the RD cell line showed prominent activation of Caspase 3 compared to the MCF-7 cells have low activation. Further, the typical DNA ladder pattern was observed in RD cells, whereas MCF-7 cells did not show a typical ladder pattern. Thus, it can be concluded that the ME of G.edulis possesses anticancer activity via activating the Caspases pathway