title: Antioxidative and anticancer activities of various ethanolic extract fractions from crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci).
abstract: Many studies currently researching marine invertebrates to determine the therapeutic potential of their bioactive materials have been showing very promising results. The crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci, an Echinodermata of the class Asteroidea, is infamous as the unique venomous starfish and as a destroyer of coral reefs. Starfish possesses many useful pharmacological and biological characteristics. In this study, A. planci was extracted with 70% ethanol and lyophilized to obtain an ethanol fraction. The ethanol fraction was dissolved with water and defatted with petroleum ether to obtain a non-polar fraction. The residual solution was successively partitioned with ethylacetate and butanol to obtain an ethylacetate fraction and butanol fraction, respectively. Four fractions were used to examine the antioxidant and anticancer properties. The ethanol fraction of A. planci contained the highest antioxidant effects such as ABTS, DPPH, Fe(2+) chelating activity and reducing power when compared with four fractions. Among the four fractions, the butanol fraction was especially shown to inhibit human malignant melanoma A375.S2 cells' proliferation, which is involved in the apoptotic progression. This fraction could induce apoptosis and even necrosis in A375.S2 cells as evidenced by double staining with an Annexin V-FITC and PI assay and DNA fragmentation analysis. These results indicated that the starfish A. planci is a good resource for obtaining the biologically active substances for antioxidant and anticancer effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Center of Excellence for the Ocean, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Chi-Chiu
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Penghu Marine Biology Research Center, Fishery Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, Magong, Penghu 880, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Hernyi Justin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Health and Nutrition Biotechnology, Asia University, 500, Lioufeng Road, Wufeng, Taichung 413, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Cheng-Hong
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Hsieh
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Center of Excellence for the Ocean, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202, Taiwan, ROC; Department of Health and Nutrition Biotechnology, Asia University, 500, Lioufeng Road, Wufeng, Taichung 413, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: dfhwang@mail.ntou.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Deng-Fwu
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Hwang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D005591:Chemical Fractionation; D000431:Ethanol / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D013215:Starfish / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Antioxidant; Apoptosis; Crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster planci; Cytotoxicity; Ethanol extract