Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Activities of Heterofucans from the Seaweed Sargassum filipendula

Abstract: 

Fucan is a term used to denominate a type of polysaccharide which contains substantial percentages of l-fucose and sulfate ester groups. We obtained five heterofucans from Sargassum filipendula by proteolytic digestion followed by sequential acetone precipitation. These heterofucans are composed mainly of fucose, glucose, glucuronic acid, galactose and sulfate. These fucans did not show anticoagulant activity in PT and aPTT tests. Their antioxidant activity was evaluated using the follow tests; total antioxidant capacity, scavenging hydroxyl and superoxide radicals, reducing power and ferrous ion [Fe(II)] chelating. All heterofucans displayed considerable activity, especially SF-1.0v which showed the most significant antioxidant potential with 90.7 ascorbic acid equivalents in a total antioxidant capacity test and similar activity when compared with vitamin C in a reducing power assay. The fucan antiproliferative activity was performed with HeLa, PC3 and HepG2 cells using MTT test. In all tested conditions the heterofucans exhibited a dose-dependent effect. The strongest inhibition was observed in HeLa cells, where SF-1.0 and SF-1.5 exhibited considerable activity with an IC50 value of 15.69 and 13.83 μM, respectively. These results clearly indicate the beneficial effect of S. filipendula polysaccharides as antiproliferative and antioxidant. Further purification steps and additional studies on structural features as well as in vivo experiments are needed to test the viability of their use as therapeutic agents.

Author(s): 
Hugo Alexandre Oliveira Rocha
Giulianna Paiva Viana Andrade
Ivan Rui Lopes Albuquerque
Ruth Medeiros Oliveira
Raniere Fagundes Melo-Silveira
Jailma Almeida-Lima
Mariana Santana Santos Pereira Costa
Sara Lima Cordeiro
Rafael Barros Gomes Camara
Nednaldo Dantas-Santos
Cinthia Beatrice Silva Telles
Gabriel Pereira Fidelis
Leandro Silva Costa
Keywords: 
fucoidan
biological activities
HeLa cells
brown seaweed
Article Source: 
Marine Drugs 9(6):952-66
Category: 
Basic Biology
Processing methods
Uses of Seaweeds: Miscellaneous