Specific Antitumor Effect of the Combined Action of Algal Heteropolysaccharide and Electroporation

Abstract

Marine organisms are potentially prolific sources of highly bioactive secondary metabolites that might represent useful leads in the development of new pharmaceutical agents. In this study the biological effect of the freeze-dried heteropolysaccharide, isolated and purified from the red microalga Rhodella reticulata strain using electroporation was evaluated. Two different types of cells - tumor and non-tumor were treated with the heteropolysaccharide alone or together with the application of electroporation. The effect of the treatment was evaluated in parallel: with proliferation test for estimating cell viability and with immunofluorescent cytoskeleton staining to establish changes in morphology. Evidence for cell line specific viability reduction (70% from the control in case of cancer cell line treatment and only 30% in non-tumor cells) in a dose dependent manner was presented. These findings will arouse further interest in heteropolysaccharide as a new anticancer drug suitable for clinical trials.

Keywords

• Antitumor effect
• Rhodella reticulata heteropolysaccharide
• Electroporation
• Immunostaining