Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences (Aug 2018)
Apoptotic effect of physcion isolated from marine fungus Microsporum sp. in PC3 human prostate cancer cells
Abstract
Abstract Background Apoptosis is a process of programmed cell death, and apoptosis defect results in serious diseases such as cancer. Apoptosis induction is one of the key mechanisms of anti-cancer agents. This study was aimed to find anti-prostate cancer compounds from marine-derived fungus Microsporum sp. Results We found that physcion isolated from the fermentation broth extract of the marine fungus Microsporum sp. strain MFS-YL decreases the cell proliferation of PC3 human prostate cancer cells. Physcion induced cell apoptosis as determined by Annexin V/propidium iodide double staining. Physcion downregulated the anti-apopotoic proteins such as Ras, Bcl-xL, and Bcl-2, whereas upregulated the pro-apoptotic Bax. Physcion also activated caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9. Conclusion These results suggest that physcion from Microsporum sp. inhibits the proliferation of PC3 human prostate cancer cells via the pathway leading to apoptotic cell death. Physcion may be a potential candidate in the field of anticancer drug discovery against human prostate cancer.
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