Induction of apoptosis by Stichopus chloronotus and Holothuria nobilis fractions in the human cervical cancer cell line, HeLa

Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of rapidly dividing cells.  Decreased efficacy of current anticancer drugs urges to further screening and investigation for a better alternative to current chemotherapeutics. Natural products of marine origin are great sources of potential new drugs of enhanced biological activities. Thus, the work aims to investigate the cytotoxic effects along with the mode of cell death exerted by SC-8, SC-9, HN-3, HN-4 and HN-5 fractions prepared from Stichopus chloronotus and Holothuria nobilis marine-sponge on the human cervical cell line, HeLa. The fractions produced effective cytotoxicity with IC50 values at 72hr of less than 30 μg/ml in the order of HN-3 > HN-4 > SC-9 > SC-8 > HN-5. These fraction induced cytotoxicity via mediating apoptosis in HeLa cells. The early apoptosis was done by fractions via exposure of protein phosphatidylserine (PS) to the outer leaflet of the plasma membrane and late apoptosis confirmed due to the presence of fragmented DNA in treated cells. The presence of potentially bioactive compounds in these fractions might be responsible for inducing apoptosis and, thus, own potential to be a successful candidate for exploring forthcoming chemotherapeutic drugs