In Vitro Effects of Hemolymph Serum of Potamon persicum Crab (HSPPC) on MCF-7 and MDA-231 Breast Cancer Cell Lines

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in women worldwide. Therefore, there is an urget need to identify and develop therapeutic strategies against this deadly disease. This study is the first to investigate the effects of Hemolymph Serum of Potamon persicum Crab (HSPPC) on MCF-7 and MDA-231 breast cancer cell lines.

LDH and MTT assays were performed on MCF-7 and MDA-231 breast cancer cell lines as well as human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) to determine the cytotoxic and antiproliferative activity of the HSPPC at different concentrations. Further, the apoptosis inducing action of the hemolymph serum was determined by TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) and cell death assay.

The IC50 values of HSPPC for MCF-7 and MDA-231 cell lines were 960 ± 0.369 and 850 ± 1.422 μg/mL, respectively. The growth of both MCF-7 and MDA-231 cell lines were significantly (P < 0.001) inhibited by HSPPC as compared with untreated controls at 48 hours. The results showed that HSPPC had no cytotoxic effects but significantly inhibited cell growth in a dose and time dependent manner. In addition, DNA fragmentation analysis (TUNEL) and cell death assay indicated induction of apoptosis by HSPPC in MCF-7 and MDA-231 cell lines.

The results suggest that HSPPC contains bioactive compound(s) with potentials for the treatment of breast cancer.