Bioassay-Guided Fractionation of Endophytic Fungal Extract of Fusarium solani (Saccardo) against Cancer Cell Lines and Zebrafish Embryo

Background: This study aimed to explore the toxicity and apoptotic potential of Fusarium solani extracts on cancer cell lines and zebrafish embryo. Materials and Methods: F. solani was initially extracted with ethyl acetate and methanol. Further purification was performed using column chromatography. Each fraction was assayed for its cytotoxic potential against four cancer cell lines using MTT assay. The apoptotic potential of the HepG2 cells was investigated using Hoechst 33342 dye and caspase 3/7. The in vivo developmental toxicity of the active fractions was assessed using zebrafish embryos. Results: The ethyl acetate extract and active fractions affected the cell viability of tested cell lines on dose dependent manner. The IC50 values of F1 fraction for Jurkat, HEK 293, MDA-MB-231 and HepG2 cell lines were 48.07, 60.09, 97. 82 and 69.7 μg/ml respectively whereas, the IC50 values of F7 fraction were 58.17μg/ml and 34.29 for HepG2 and HEK 293 cell lines respectively. Morphological changes of cell such as chromatin condensation as well as the expression of caspase 3/7 were observed. In agreement with cell line data, the active fraction obtained from F. solani were toxic for zebrafish embryos at ≥100 μg/ml and lower concentration (≤60μg/ml) induced various developmental defects. Conclusion: The F. solani ethyl acetate extract and its fractions showed anticancer activity in tested cancer cell lines and induced apoptosis via caspase 3/7 pathway and showed in vivo toxicity in zebrafish embryos.