Structural characterization of two isolectins from the marine red alga Solieria filiformis (Kützing) P.W. Gabrielson and their anticancer effect on MCF-7 breast cancer cells

Abstract As described in the literature, Solieria filiformis lectin (SfL) from the marine red alga S. filiformis was found to have antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we characterized two SfL variants, SfL-1 and SfL-2, with molecular mass of 27,552 Da and 27,985 Da, respectively. The primary structures of SfL-1 and SfL-2 consist of four tandem-repeat protein domains with 67 amino acids each. SfL-1 and -2 showed high similarity to OAAH-family lectins. 3D structure prediction revealed that SfL-1 and -2 are composed of two β-barrel-like domains formed by five antiparallel β-strands, which are connected by a short peptide linker. Furthermore, the mixture of isoforms (SfLs) showed anticancer effect against MCF-7 cells. Specifically, SfLs inhibited 50% of viability in MCF-7 cells after treatment at 125 μg.mL −1 , while the inhibition of Human Dermal Fibroblasts (HDF) was 34% with the same treatment. Finally, 24 h after treatment, 25% of MCF-7 cells were in early apoptosis and 35% in late apoptosis. Evaluation of pro- and anti-apoptotic gene expression of MCF-7 cells revealed that SfLs induced caspase-dependent apoptosis within 24 h.