Echinococcus granulosus Cyst Wall Antigens as Potential Anticancer Agents: Protein Characterization and Cytotoxic Effects on a Human Colorectal Cancer Cell Line
Hydatid Cyst Wall Antigen as anticancer
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29409/tg2t0v49Keywords:
Cyst wall antigen, Cytotoxicity, Echinococcus granulosus, MTT assay, SDS-PAGEAbstract
Colorectal cancer is among the most common cancers worldwide and is the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Early detection and screening are crucial for reducing both incidence and mortality. Parasitic diseases may induce anticancer effects through interactions between the parasite and its host. Accumulating scientific evidence has proven the validity of this concept, as some parasites have shown anticancer activity in vitro. This research aims to prepare and characterize hydatid cyst wall antigens by determining protein concentrations and analyzing them using electrophoresis, as well as evaluating their cytotoxic activity in a human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line (HRT-18) compared with that in a normal human cell line (NHF). Methods: In this study, the Lowry method was used to measure protein concentration, and electrophoresis and MTT assays were used to determine the toxicity and IC50 values of the cyst wall antigens in both cancer and normal cell lines. The results revealed a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect that was significantly greater at the highest antigen concentration (100 µg) for colorectal cancer cells than for normal cells, while the effect was less pronounced on normal cells. The IC50 value of the cyst wall antigens on cancer cells was 24.0 µg/ml, whereas it was 100.8 µg/ml for normal cells, with a high selectivity index (SI) of 4.2, which indicated that the cyst wall antigens selectively target cancer cells while sparing normal cells. Conclusion: Antigens extracted from the cyst wall, including cyst wall antigens, are more cytotoxic to cancer cells than to normal cells; thus, these antigens are potential antitumor agents and warrant further investigation.
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Data Availability Statement
The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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