title: An Aqueous Extract of Marine Microalgae Exhibits Antimetastatic Activity through Preferential Killing of Suspended Cancer Cells and Anticolony Forming Activity.
abstract: Research on marine natural products as potential anticancer agents is still limited. In the present study, an aqueous extract of a Canadian marine microalgal preparation was assessed for anticancer activities using various assays and cell lines of human cancers, including lung, prostate, stomach, breast, and pancreatic cancers, as well as an osteosarcoma. In vitro, the microalgal extract exhibited marked anticolony forming activity. In addition, it was more toxic, as indicated by increased apoptosis, to nonadherent cells (grown in suspension) than to adherent cells. In vivo, an antimetastatic effect of the extract was observed in NOD-SCID mice carrying subrenal capsule xenografts of PC3 prostate cancer cells. The results of the present study suggest that the antimetastatic effect of the aqueous microalgal extract is based on inhibition of colony forming ability of cancer cells and the preferential killing of suspended cancer cells. Further research aimed at identification of the molecular basis of the anticancer activities of the microalgal extract appears to be warranted.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Indore, India.
authors.forename: Syam Prakash
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Somasekharan
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Amal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-Naggar
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Oncology, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Poul H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Sorensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Experimental Therapeutics, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Yuzhuo
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9749-8591
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urologic Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Experimental Therapeutics, British Columbia Cancer Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7035-6980
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng