Microalga Chlorella sp. extract induced apoptotic cell death of cholangiocarcinoma via AKT/mTOR signaling pathway

Abstract

Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide. Drug resistance and relapse after current standard treatments frequently occur; thus, alternative and effective treatments are required. Algae and cyanobacteria are abundant organisms that serve as bioresources of nutrients/metabolites, which are attractive sources of numerous bioactive compounds for drug discovery. In the present study, we, therefore, investigated anti-cancer activities of crude polysaccharide and ethanolic extracts from Chlorella sp., Sargassum spp., and Spirulina sp. against cell lines of five top-leading cancers including lung cancer (A549), cervical cancer (Hela), breast cancer (MCF7), hepatocellular carcinoma (Huh7), and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA; KKU213A). Only ethanolic extracts of Chlorella sp. showed consistent inhibition of growth of all cancer cell types. CCA was the most sensitive to Chlorella sp. ethanolic extract with CC50 of 277.4, 400.5, and 313.4 µg/mL for KKU055, KKU100, and KKU213A cells, respectively. Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that CCA cell death was triggered via apoptosis pathway in accompany with lowering procaspase-3, -8, and -9 and increasing caspase enzymatic activity in addition to reducing anti-apoptosis Bcl-2 protein. Interestingly, the treatment of the extract at 400 µg/mL greatly inhibited the AKT/mTOR survival signaling as evidenced by significant reduction of phosphorylated-AKT and phosphorylated-mTOR proteins. The presence of reported bioactive compounds, gallic acid, and lutein, were confirmed in Chlorella sp. extract by high-performance liquid chromatography. Gallic acid and lutein treatment caused a significant reduction of KKU055, KKU100, and KKU213A cell viability. This study demonstrated the anti-cancer effect of Chlorella sp. ethanolic extract to promote cancer cell death via inhibition of AKT/mTOR pathway.