Thangapandi Marudhupandi

In vitro anticancer activity of fucoidan from Turbinaria conoides against A549 cell lines

The present study was conducted to evaluate the anticancer activity of fucoidan isolated from brown seaweed Turbinaria conoides. Extracted fucoidan contained 53 ± 0.69% of fucose and 38 ± 0.42% of sulphate, respectively. Functional groups and structural characteristics of the fucoidan were analyzed by FT-IR and NMR. In vitro anticancer effect was studied on A549 cell line. Fucoidan inhibited the growth of cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner and potent anticancer activities were 24.9-73.5% in the concentrations of 31.25-500 μg/ml. The CTC50 value against the cancer cell was found to be 45 μg/ml and the CTC50 value of normal Vero cell line is 325 μg/ml. This study suggests that the fucoidan from T. conoides could be significantly improved if the active component is further purified and tested for further investigation in various cancer cell lines.

Fucoidan--a α-D-glucosidase inhibitor from Sargassum wightii with relevance to type 2 diabetes mellitus therapy.

The present study was conducted to screen the α-d-glucosidase inhibitory activity of fucoidan extracted from Sargassum wightii collected at Mandapam coastal area, Tamil Nadu, India. Fucoidan was extracted from the sporophyll of S. wightii using ethanol, acetone and CaCl2 precipitation. The average yield was 1.8 ± 0.16% and the extracted fucoidan was found to contain 53 ± 0.52% of fucose and 36 ± 0.60% of sulphate. FT-IR, NMR and in vitro α-d-glucosidase activity of purified fucoidan were performed. Fucoidan at the concentration of 31.25, 62.5, 125 and 250 μg exhibited 19, 31, 38 and 71% inhibition against α-d-glucosidase respectively in a dose dependent manner. The IC50 value against α-D-glucosidase of fucoidan is found to be 132.9 μg which is more effective than that of acarbose (1mg). The diverse biological activities of Fucoidan include anticancer, anti inflammatory and antimicrobial but the α-d-glucosidase inhibitory activity of native fucoidan from S. wightii for type 2 diabetes therapy is first of its kind.

Heterotrophic cultivation of Nannochloropsis salina for enhancing biomass and lipid production

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