Potential of four marine-derived fungi extracts as anti-proliferative and cell death-inducing agents in seven human cancer cell lines

Objective:To evaluate the in vitro anticancer activity of crude ethyl acetate extracts of the culture of four marine-derived fungi Aspergillus similanensis KUFA 0013(E1),Neosartorya paulistemis KUFC 7897(E2),Neosartorya siamensis KUFA 0017(E4) and Talaromyces trachyspermus KUFC 0021(E3) on a panel of seven human cancer cell lines.Methods:Effects on cell proliferation,induction of DNA damage and cell death were assessed by MTT and clonogenic assays,comet assay and nuclear condensation assay,respectively.Results:The proliferation of HepG2,HCTl 16 and A375 cells decreased after incubation with the extracts E2 and E4.The anti-proliterative effect was confirmed by morphologic alterations and by clonogenic assay.Both extracts also induced cell death in HepG2 and HCT116 cells.Doxorubicin was used as a positive control and showed in vitro anticancer activity.Conclusions:This study demonstrated,for the first time,that extracts of Neosartorya paulistensis and Neosartorya siamensis have selective anti-proliferative and cell death activities in HepG2,HCT16 and A375 cells.The bioactivity of these extracts suggests a potential for biotechnological applications and substantiates that both should be further considered for the elucidation of the molecular targets and signal transduction pathways involved.