Review
Brown seaweed fucoidan: Biological activity and apoptosis, growth signaling mechanism in cancer

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Abstract

Seaweeds, being abundant sources of bioactive components have much interest in recent times. The complex polysaccharides from the brown, red and green seaweeds possess broad spectrum therapeutic properties. The sulfated polysaccharides are routinely used in biomedical research and have known biological activities. Fucoidan, a fucose-rich polysaccharide extracted from brown seaweed has various biological functions including anticancer effects. Cellular damage induces growth arrest and tumor suppression by inducing apoptosis, the mechanism of cell death depends on the magnitude of DNA damage following exposure to anticancer agents. Apoptosis is mainly regulated by cell growth signaling molecules. Number of research studies evidenced that fucoidan shown to induce cytotoxicity of various cancer cells, induces apoptosis, and inhibits invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis of cancer cells. There are few articles discussing on fucoidan biological activity but no specific review on cancer and its signaling mechanism. Hence, this review discusses the brown seaweed fucoidan structure and some biological function and role in apoptosis, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis and growth signal mechanism on cancer.

Introduction

Life began in the sea, and oceans, particularly rich in biodiversity, cover over 70% of the Earth's surface. The marine environment contains a diverse number of plants, animals, and microorganisms, which have a wide diversity of natural products [1]. The inability to cure many diseases including cancer has encouraged the need for the development of new drugs from natural sources. Among the natural sources, marine environment has great frontier for pharmaceutical and medical research. Recent studies in the field of cancer research have revealed promising compounds, isolated from natural sources, with proven anticancer activity. Seaweeds have great potential as a supplement in functional food or for the extraction of compounds. Seaweeds are known for their richness in polysaccharides, minerals and certain vitamins, but they also contain bioactive substances like polysaccharides, proteins, lipids and polyphenols, with antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral properties, etc. [2], [3] and used in the development of new pharmaceutical agents [4]. The Phaeophyceae or brown algae, is a large group of mostly marine multicellular algae, including of many seaweeds. They play an important role in marine environments, both as food and for the habitats they form. There are number of studies evidenced that anticancer effects of fucoidans, but no review available to speculate the fucoidan anticancer action. The scope of this review we discusses the role of fucoidan on biological activity, apoptosis, metastasis, angiogenesis and growth signal regulation on cancer.

Section snippets

Polysaccharides

Marine algae contain large amounts of polysaccharides, notably cell wall structural, also mycopolysaccharides and storage polysaccharides [2], [5]. Polysaccharides are polymers of simple sugars (monosaccharides) linked together by glycosidic bonds, and they have numerous commercial applications in products such as stabilizers, thickeners, emulsifiers, food, feed and beverages [6], [7]. The total polysaccharide concentrations in the seaweed species of interest range from 4% to 76% of dry weight

Low molecular weight fucoidan

Recently studies suggested that low molecular weight fucoidan (LMWF) has more biological actions than native fucoidan. LMWF, a sulfated polysaccharide derived from brown seaweeds. The pharmacological effects of fucoidans vary with their molecular weight, which is generally classified as low (<10 kDa), medium (10–10,000 kDa), or high >10,000 kDa [23]. LMWF mediated the broad-spectrum growth inhibition of human carcinoma cells, including HeLa cervix adenocarcinoma, HT1080 fibrosarcoma, K562

Biological activity of fucoidan

In recent years, fucoidan or FCSPs from seaweed has many scientific studies aiming at assessing their potential biological functions including antitumor and immunomodulatory [30], [31], [32], antivirus [33], antithrombotic and anticoagulant [34], anti-inflammatory [35], and antioxidant effects [36], as well as their effects against various renal [37], hepatic [38] and uropathic disorders [39]. The bioactivity of fucoidan was isolated from brown seaweed such as Undaria and Laminaria showed

Anticancer effect of fucoidan

Cancer is a group of diseases characterized by uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells. If the spread is not controlled, it can result in death. Despite considerable progress in medical research, cancer remains one of the high-ranking causes of death in the world. The National Cancer Institute estimates that “approximately 11.4 million Americans with a history of cancer were alive in January 2006. In 2012, about 577,190 Americans are expected to die of cancer, more than 1500 people a

Conclusions

Seaweeds are a group of marine multicellular algae has various health benefits and biomedical applications. Brown seaweeds contains fucoidans are complex and heterogeneous, and have various structures, but not been very clear until now. Fucoidan has various biological activities which include antitumor, immunomodulatory, antiviral, antithrombotic, anticoagulant, antithrombotic, antioxidant and antilipidemic activity. Fucoidan inhibits cancer cell proliferations by inducing cell cycle arrest,

Acknowledgement

This study was supported by a grant from Marine Bioprocess Research Center of the Marine Biotechnology Program funded by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Republic of Korea.

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