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Fucoidan induces G1 phase arrest and apoptosis through caspases-dependent pathway and ROS induction in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells

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Summary

Fucoidan is an active component of seaweed, which inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of several tumor cells while the detailed mechanisms underlying this process are still not clear. In this study, the effect of Fucoidan on the proliferation and apoptosis of human breast cancer MCF-7 cells and the molecular mechanism of Fucoidan action were investigated. Viable cell number of MCF-7 cells was decreased by Fucoidan treatment in a dose-dependent manner as measured by MTT assay. Fucoidan treatment resulted in G1 phase arrest of MCF-7 cells as revealed by flow cytometry, which was associated with the decrease in the gene expression of cyclin D1 and CDK-4. Annexin V/PI staining results showed that the number of apoptotic cells was associated with regulation of cytochrome C, caspase-8, Bax and Bcl-2 at transcriptional and translational levels. Both morphologic observation and Hoechst 33258 assay results confirmed the pro-apoptotic effect of Fucoidan. Meanwhile, the ROS production was also increased by Fucoidan treatment, which suggested that Fucoidan induced oxidative damage in MCF-7 cells. The results of present study demonstrated that Fucoidan could induce G1 phase arrest and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells through regulating the cell cycle and apoptosis-related genes or proteins expression, and ROS generation is also involved in these processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Genetic Engineering International Cooperation Base of Ministry of Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Amal M. Banafa, Sadia Roshan, Yun-yi Liu  (柳昀熠), Hui-jie Chen  (陈慧洁), Ming-jie Chen  (陈明洁), Guang-xiao Yang  (杨广笑) & Guang-yuan He  (何光源)

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  1. Amal M. Banafa
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  2. Sadia Roshan
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  3. Yun-yi Liu  (柳昀熠)
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  4. Hui-jie Chen  (陈慧洁)
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  5. Ming-jie Chen  (陈明洁)
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  6. Guang-xiao Yang  (杨广笑)
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  7. Guang-yuan He  (何光源)
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Guang-xiao Yang  (杨广笑) or Guang-yuan He  (何光源).

Additional information

This project was supported by grants from The National Maritime Bureau Public Science and Technology Research Funds Projects of Ocean (No. 201005013) and the Wuhan Municipal Science and Technology Research Project of China (No. 201260523185).

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Banafa, A.M., Roshan, S., Liu, Yy. et al. Fucoidan induces G1 phase arrest and apoptosis through caspases-dependent pathway and ROS induction in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. J. Huazhong Univ. Sci. Technol. [Med. Sci.] 33, 717–724 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-013-1186-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11596-013-1186-8

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