Evaluation of the anti-cancer potential of amphidinol 2, a polyketide metabolite from the marine dinoflagellate Amphidinium klebsii

• Main Authors: Espiritu, Rafael A., Tan, Maria Carmen S., Oyong, Glenn G.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2017
• Subjects: Dinoflagellates—Therapeutic use; Polyketides; Cancer—Treatment; Apoptosis; Cell-mediated cytotoxicity; Chemistry
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/1635
• Institution: De La Salle University

The increasing incidence of new cancer cases and the appearance of cancer cells resistant towards standard chemotherapeutic drugs have prompted active research on finding novel compounds with promising anti-cancer properties. In this regard, marine organisms could provide interesting and unique compounds that may be of use in the treatment of this disease. Amphidinols (AMs) belong to a class of polyketide metabolites isolated from the marine dinoflagellate Amphidinium klebsii. These compounds are known to perforate the membrane via sterol interaction ultimately leading to pore formation and cell death. Herein, the activity of amphidinol 2 (AM2) against HCT-116, HT-29, and MCF-7 cancer cells was evaluated and compared with normal HDFn cells. Cell viability assays revealed that AM2 was cytotoxic to all cells tested, but it was significantly lower in normal cells; its IC50 against HDFn cells was 135.5 μg/mL compared with 1.2-8.5 μg/mL for the three cancer cell lines. Gene expression experiments showed that the presence of AM2 resulted in the upregulation of the pre-apoptosis markers cfos and cjun in all cancer cell lines tested, which may explain its observed cytotoxic action. These results demonstrate the potential of AM2, and possibly this class of compounds, as an effective anti-cancer therapeutic. © 2017 Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences.