Examination of Exopolysaccharides from Porphyridium cruentum for Estimation of Their Potential Antitumour Activity in Vitro

Abstract

Globally, research is being conducted focusing on new biologically active substances and technologies for their application in various sectors, in the hope that their biological and medical applications will be widely used in the next decade.

The introduction of therapeutic agents of biological origin isolated from certain species of bacteria and algae and their potential for cancer treatment is based on their lower toxicity and hence greater safety compared to synthetic pharmaceuticals. In this respect, the potential of microbial producers and microalgae is enormous. Among the biologically active components isolated from algae of the greatest importance for biology and medicine are complex polysaccharides, as well as some pigments.

In the present work, the antitumour properties of two fractions of polysaccharides from the red microalgae Porphyridium cruentum were observed by determining their effect on cell viability of four different cell lines.

New data from the study indicate that samples treated with P. cruentum polysaccharide have significant and dose-dependent antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects. Changes in nuclear morphology in MCF-7 tumour cells induced by polysaccharide treatment, including chromatin condensation, nucleus fragmentation, and apoptotic body formation, have been demonstrated. Polysaccharides show obvious pharmacological effects in the treatment of tumour cells without side effects.