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Updated: May 31, 2026
Evaluating Cell Death Using Cell-Free Supernatant of Probiotics in Three-Dimensional Spheroid Cultures of Colorectal Cancer Cells
Published on: June 13, 2020
Heterofucan from Sargassum filipendula induces apoptosis in HeLa cells
Leandro Silva Costa1,2, Cinthia Beatrice Silva Telles1, Ruth Medeiros Oliveira1
1Laboratory of Biotechnology of Natural Polymers (BIOPOL), Departament of Biochemistry, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal-RN, Brazil.
Abstract:
Fucan is a term used to denominate a family of sulfated polysaccharides rich in sulfated l-fucose. Heterofucan SF-1.5v was extracted from the brown seaweed Sargassum filipendula by proteolytic digestion followed by sequential acetone precipitation. This fucan showed antiproliferative activity on Hela cells and induced apoptosis. However, SF-1.5v was not able to activate caspases. Moreover, SF-1.5v induced glycogen synthase kinase (GSK) activation, but this protein is not involved in the heterofucan SF-1.5v induced apoptosis mechanism. In addition, ERK, p38, p53, pAKT and NFκB were not affected by the presence of SF-1.5v. We determined that SF-1.5v induces apoptosis in HeLa mainly by mitochondrial release of apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) into cytosol. In addition, SF-1.5v decreases the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and increased expression of apoptogenic protein Bax. These results are significant in that they provide a mechanistic framework for further exploring the use of SF-1.5v as a novel chemotherapeutics against human cervical cancer.
