Journal of King Saud University: Science (Dec 2020)
Anticancer and antioxidant activities of Nannochloropsis oculata and Chlorella sp. extracts in co-application with silver nanoparticle
Abstract
This study examined the formulation of Microalgal Chloroform Extracts (MEs) and Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) co-application for anticancer activity against MCF-7 and 4T1 cells, without affecting the non-cancerous Vero cell-lines. The concentration, ratios and duration of treatments were optimized, and the flow cytometric and cell cycle analyses were carried out. The metabolites based on Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) were determined and the antioxidant activities evaluated. The main compounds detected in Chlorella sp. and N. oculata, respectively, were hexanedioic acid, bis (2-ethylhexyl) ester (23.94, 36.47%), neophytadiene (16.82, 4.79%), eicosane (4.37, 15.04%), hexatriacontane (0, 12.77%), and 13-Docosenamide, (Z) (9.22, 0%). The AgNPs-N. oculata-CHL at (w/w) 1.5:1 and 2:1 ratios (w/w) exhibited cytotoxic IC50 of 10.47 and 17.78 µg/mL on MCF-7 cells; and 79.43 and 52.7 µg/mL against 4T1 cells after 72 h, respectively. The AgNPs-Chlorella sp.-CHL at 1:1 and 2:1 ratios exhibited IC50 of 19.05 and 14.45 µg/mL against MCF-7 cells; and 79.43 and 50.11 µg/mL on 4T1 cells after 72 h, respectively. There was no cytotoxicity against Vero cells at any of the treatments tested. The co-applications showed higher early and late apoptotic events and significant increase in sub G1 phase as compared to the single-applications. At the 2:1 ratio, the strongest anti-oxidant activities were shown by the AgNPs-Chlorella sp.-CHL (IC50 2.11 mg/mL) and N. oculata-CHL (IC50 2.98 mg/mL), as compared to the AgNPs-T. suecica-CHL (IC50 1.77 mg/mL). The AgNPs-MEs co-application exerted high anticancer and antioxidant activities, with no cytotoxic activity against Vero cells. The formulation could lead to the development of potent therapeutic agents against breast cancer with reduced or no side effect.
