Algae from Portuguese Coast Presented High Cytotoxicity and Antiproliferative Effects on an Model of Human Colorectal Cancer.

Background: The marine environment has shown to be an interesting source of new antitumor agents, representing an important tool in cancer research.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antitumor activities of 12 algae from Peniche coast (Portugal) on an model of human colorectal cancer (Caco-2 cells).

Materials And Methods: The antitumor potential was accessed by evaluating Caco-2 cell's viability and proliferation through the 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide and calcein-AM methods.

Results: The dichloromethane extracts of and induced the highest decrease on cell's viability (1 mg/mL; 24 h), 98.96% ± 0.39% and 98.08% ± 0.89%, respectively, followed by the methanolic extracts of (96.47% ± 1.26%) and (92.68% ± 1.17%). Regarding cell proliferation, the highest decrease of Caco-2 cell's proliferation (1 mg/mL; 24 h) was induced by the dichloromethane extract of (100% ± 0.48%), (99.04 ± 0.51%), and (95.05% ± 1.19%). The highest potency was shown by the dichloromethane extract of in both, cytotoxicity and antiproliferative tests, with an IC of 21.3 and 36.5 μg/mL, respectively.

Conclusion: The extracts of and are promising sources of new bioactive molecules with application in cancer therapeutics.

Summary: Algae from Peniche coast (Portugal) revealed to be a promising source of new bioactive compounds with potential application on cancer therapeutics. MTT: 3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide; DMSO: Dimethyl sulfoxide; FBS: Fetal bovine serum; MEM: Minimum Essential Medium; SEM: Standard error of the mean;SP : Sulfated polysaccharides.