Evaluation of the effect of crude extract and C-Phycocyanin molecule obtained from spirulina platensis on cancer pathways by molecular methods in cancer cell lines

Spirulina platensis (Cyanophyceae) or Arthrospira platensis, also known as Spirulina, is a filamentous blue-green microalga and belongs to the cyanobacteria group. Spirulina contains proteins; vitamins, minerals and lipids. In addition, Spirulina is rich in pigments (chlorophyll α, xanthophyll, β-carotene, zeaxanthin and phycocyanin). Phycocyanins include both C-phycocyanin (C-PC) and Allo-Phycocyanin (APC). In Spirulina, a multicellular and filamentous Cyanobacterium, 20-40% of its total protein is C-PC. C-PC, which can be extracted from Spirulina, is a blue pigment and can be used as a natural colorant in the food and cosmetics industry. In addition, C-PC has been shown to have a strong anti-cancer effect on various cancer types (such as breast cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, leukemia and bone marrow cancer) in vitro and in vivo. In our study, we tested the therapeutic power of C-PC derived from Spirulina produced in Çukurova University in fighting and preventing cancer. In this study, the human breast cancer cell line MCF7 was used. Firstly, we evaluated the effects of both Spirulina aqueous extract and its active ingredient C-PC on the viability of NIH3T3 and MCF7 cells by MTT assay. Then, we exposed MCF7 to different doses of C-PC for 24 hours and examined its apoptotic effect. After RNA isolation of MCF7 cells and cDNA extraction, we evaluated the expression levels of caspase-3, -8, -9, Bid, Bax, Apaf-1 and p53 genes involved in apoptosis. As a result, we observed that apoptotic genes were significantly expressed in MCF7 cells after C-PC treatment.