Fucoxanthin: a marine carotenoid has anticancer activities and apoptosis-inducing effect (a review)

Fucoxanthin, a natural xanthophyll carotenoid, is generally found in brown seaweeds, such as Sargassum duplicatum, Turbinaria turbinata, Padina australis, Undaria pinnatifida, and Laminaria japonica; and microalga or diatom such as Phaeodactylum tricornutum, Isochrysis galbana and Odontella sinensis. Fucoxanthin is a marine xanthophyll exhibiting several anticancer activities, such as anticancer activities against leukemia, prostate, cervical, hepatoma, colon, and lung cancer. Cancer disease is frequently considered to be a disease of the cell cycle. Then, apoptosis is a dominant form of cell death with particular relevance to cancer, characterized initially by a series of stereotypic morphological changes, such as condensation and fragmentation of chromatin shrinking of cytoplasmic (cell shrinkage), a decrease in cell volume and alterations to the plasma membrane, mitochondrial depolarization, membrane blebbing, and cell packaging into apoptotic bodies or formation of apoptotic bodies. In general, there are four techniques for the detection of apoptosis, namely: (1). morphological changes analysis using an inverted microscope, scanning electron microscope, fluorescent microscope, (2) gel electrophoresis, (3). immunohistochemistry (e.g., analysis of caspase-3), and (4) flow cytometry.