Inhibitive effect of bacterial derivatives on colorectal cancer cells

• Main Author: Tan, Evelyn Yuxin
• Other Authors: Teoh Swee Hin
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/68414
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Colorectal cancer is one of the top leading causes of cancer deaths and the third most common type of cancer worldwide. Due to the hypoxic region within the tumour microenvironment, traditional treatment methods such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy have limited effectiveness due to the lack of oxygen. However, the hypoxic region has been proven to be an ideal environment for bacteria to selectively germinate and proliferate in. Bacteria have shown to trigger significant tumour lysis in experimental animals but possess a high risk of infection and toxicity at the required doses. Heat-inactivated Clostridial sporogenes (IB), a non-viable derivative of the obligate anaerobic bacteria, was used in order to minimise toxicity. This project aimed to investigate and empirically prove the anti-proliferative effects of IB on HCT116 colorectal cancer cells using cell proliferation and cell viability assays. Research has shown that heat-inactivation does not alter the natural cytotoxicity of bacteria, which is responsible for its anti-tumour property. As the concentration of IB increased, the cell proliferation rate and cell viability of HCT116 cells decreased. It was observed that the IB was able to inhibit cell proliferation of HCT116 cells to 8.05% of the control in 72 hours. Similarly, cell viability dropped to as low as 1.99% of the control in 72 hours. From the results obtained, the anti-proliferative effect of inactivated C. sporogenes in 2D monolayer culture was established. The next step in this project will be to conduct similar experiments in 3D spheroids culture, which are better in vitro models.