Pancreatic cancer, which threatens the global population, is a very aggressive disease with an increased mortality rate. Regarding the types of
cancer, pancreatic cancer is prone to display significant resistance to conventional
therapy, therefore there 5-year survival rate is only 2% to 9%. Bioactive metabolites of marine algae such as
polysaccharides,
chitin, carternoids, and
sterols possess immense pharmacological properties and tend to be promising alternatives for
cancer treatment.
Dieckol is one such polyphenolic bioactive compound extracted from brown algae Ecklonia cava, which is proven to possess
antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial,
antidiabetic properties. Therefore in the present study, we analyzed the anticancer property of
dieckol on PANC-1
pancreatic carcinoma cells. The cytotoxicity property of
dieckol against PANC-1 cells was assessed with 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium
bromide assay, and cell morphological analysis. The generation of
reactive oxygen species by
dieckol on PANC-1 was analyzed with
DCFH-DA staining and confirmed by quantifying
antioxidants levels in untreated and
dieckol-treated PANC-1 cells. The induction of apoptosis was further evaluated with different staining techniques such as
Rhodamine 123 staining,
acridine orange/
ethidium bromide staining,
DAPI staining,
propidium iodide staining and was confirmed by estimating the
protein expression of apoptotic genes, Bax and Bcl2. Cell adhesion assay and estimation of inflammatory
cytokines were performed to detect the inhibitory effect of
dieckol against
cancer cell progression. It is further confirmed by analyzing
cancer cell progression
proteins, that is,
proliferating cell nuclear antigen and
cyclin D1 expressions in untreated and
dieckol-treated PANC-1 cells. Our overall results authentically prove
dieckol persuasively induces apoptosis and inhibits the progression of human
pancreatic cancer cells in vitro, suggesting
dieckol as a potent marine-based
phytochemical to treat
pancreatic cancer.