IMTA-cultivated Osmundea pinnatifida inhibited cell proliferation in MCF-7 cell line

According to the World Health Organization, cancers figure among the leading causes of death worldwide. The arising of resistant cells to the action of some drugs used on the chemotherapy enhanced the search for new molecules with therapeutic properties. The marine flora, although rich in chemicals which display an array of pharmacological properties, are largely unexplored for anticancer lead compounds. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the breast adenocarcinoma antitumor potential of Osmundea pinnatifida (Rhodophyta). It is an edible algae, commonly known as ‘pepper dulse’ due to its slightly spicy flavor, whose antimicrobial, antifungal and antioxidant activities are well documented. The antitumor potential of methanolic and dichloromethane extracts, obtained from wild and IMTA-cultivated seaweed, were evaluated on the MCF-7 cells (human breast adenocarcinoma cell line). The cell viability and the cell proliferation assays were performed according to MTT method. The viability of MCF-7 cells was not significantly reduced by the tested extracts (1 mg/ml; 24 h), remaining below 20%. However, MCF-7 cell proliferation was reduced 61% and 75% by the dichloromethane extracts (1 mg/ml; 24 h) obtained from wild and IMTA-cultivated algae, respectively. The data suggests that O. pinnatifida is a promising source of new bioactive molecules with high antiproliferative properties.