GC-MS Profiling of Caulerpa lentillifera Hot Water Extract and it’s in vitro Effects on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Progression

Background

Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is a highly resilient cancer associated with poor survival outcomes. Current treatment with sorafenib inhibits Raf kinases but still encounter resistance mediated by alternative survival pathways. Caulerpa lentillifera (C. lentillifera) has demonstrated anti-cancer properties. Therefore, this study aims to assess its anticancer profile in hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells and characterize the metabolomic profile of C. lentillifera hot water extract.

Materials and Methods

The experimental methodology was hot water extraction of C. lentifillera and anticancer profiling by cell proliferation, cell migration, and colony formation assays in HEPG2 cells and normal fibroblast L929 cells. Followed by identification of metabolites in hot water extract using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).

Results

Comparison of two hot water extraction temperatures indicated that higher yield was obtained at 50ºC than at 100ºC. Cell proliferation assay showed a dose-dependent inhibitory activity with stronger inhibition observed in the extract derived at 100ºC than that at 50ºC. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration at 72 hr was 5 mg/mL for the 100ºC extract and was 8 mg/mL for the 50ºC extract. Subsequent analysis utilized the 100ºC extract to determine changes in cell migration. HepG2 cell migration was reduced after 72 hr of treatment compared with L929 cells. Similar findings were observed in colony formation assay, where the number of colonies was reduced in HepG2 cells relative to L929 cells. GC-MS analysis demonstrated presence of putative constituents cyclohexasilone, cycloheptasiloxane, pentasiloxane and benzoic acid.

Conclusion

Taken together, these effects could be attributed to the presence of putative constituents cyclohexasilone, cycloheptasiloxane, and benzoic acid detected in the 100ºC extract. Further validation studies are needed to corroborate these findings for HCC treatment.