Background and aim: Fucoidan is a sulfated polysaccharide found in brown
algae that has shown different biological activities. In this research, the anticancer
properties of fucoidan extracted from the brown algae Cystoseir trinodis from the
shores of the Persian Gulf were investigated on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line.
Methodology: Fucoidan from the brown algae Cystoseira trinodis, which was
extracted, purified and lyophilized in previous research, was selected as a possible
anti-cancer agent for the research. Fucoidan was tested in both polymerized and
depolymerized states. To create depolymerized fucoidan, the polymerized
fucoidan solution was autoclaved at 121°C for 40 minutes. The effect of both
modes of fucoidan on the viability of breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and normal
breast cell line MCF-10 after 24, 48 and 72 hours of treatment was evaluated by
MTT method. The effect of fucoidans on the apoptosis of both cancerous and
normal breast cell lines, 24 hours after treatment, was investigated using
annexinV FITC/PI flow cytometry. Also, the amount of colony formation from
single cells of MCF-7 cell line and the amount of cell migration of this line after
treatment with fucoidans were evaluated by colony formation and wound healing
tests, respectively.
Conclusions: The results of this research showed that, the effect of polymerized
and depolymerized fucoidans on the viability of cancer cell line MCF-7 and
normal cell line MCF-10, at concentrations of 62.5, 31.25, 15.625, 7.8125, and
90. 3, 1.95 and 0.976 μg/ml, with increasing concentration of fucoidans, the
viability of both cell lines decreased significantly (p < 0.05). In MCF-10 cell line,
polymerized fucoidan at concentrations of 4.1 and 8.2 μg/ml leads to apoptosis of
0.87% and 1.03%, and depolymerized fucoidan at concentrations of 10.2 and 20.4
μg/ml resulted in 0.98% and 2.92% apoptosis, which shows that the amount of
apoptosis is higher in the treatment with depolymerized fucoidan. In MCF-7 cell
line,