Carrageenan delays cell cycle progression in human cancer cells in vitro demonstrated by FUCCI imaging.

Background Carrageenan is a sulfated polysaccharide that exists in red seaweeds recently shown to have anticancer properties. Previous findings show various effects of carrageenan suppressing tumor cell growth. One of the hallmarks of cancer is uncontrolled proliferation, a consequence of loss of normal cell-cycle control, that underlies tumor growth. Recently there is an increasing interest in potential anticancer agents that affect cell cycle in cancer cells. Thus, in this study we investigated the effects of carrageenan on the tumor cell cycle.