Open Access

ARTICLE

Low-molecular-weight fucoidan inhibits the proliferation of melanoma via Bcl-2 phosphorylation and PTEN/AKT pathway

by MINJI PARK¹, CHULHWAN BANG², WON-SOO YUN³, YUN-MI JEONG^3,*

1 T&R Biofab Co., Ltd., Seongnam-si, 13487, Korea
2 Department of Dermatology, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, 02706, Korea
3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tech University of Korea, Si-heung City, 15073, Korea

* Corresponding Author: YUN-MI JEONG. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Signaling Pathway Crosstalk in Malignant Tumors: Molecular Targets and Combinatorial Therapeutics)

Oncology Research 2024, 32(2), 273-282. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2023.044362

Received 28 July 2023; Accepted 18 October 2023; Issue published 28 December 2023

Abstract

Fucoidan, a sulfate polysaccharide obtained from brown seaweed, has various bioactive properties, including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-oxidant, anti-coagulant, anti-thrombotic, anti-angiogenic, and anti-Helicobacter pylori properties. However, the effects of low-molecular-weight fucoidan (LMW-F) on melanoma cell lines and three dimensional (3D) cell culture models are not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the effects of LMW-F on A375 human melanoma cells and cryopreserved biospecimens derived from patients with advanced melanoma. Ultrasonic wave was used to fragment fucoidan derived from Fucus vesiculosus into smaller LMW-F. MTT and live/dead assays showed that LMW-F inhibited cell proliferation in both A375 cells and patient-derived melanoma explants in a 3D-printed collagen scaffold. The PTEN/AKT pathway was found to be involved in the anti-melanoma effects of fucoidan. Western blot analysis revealed that LMW-F reduced the phosphorylation of Bcl-2 at Thr 56, which was associated with the prevention of anti-apoptotic activity of cancer cells. Our findings suggested that LMW-F could enhance anti-melanoma chemotherapy and improve the outcomes of patients with melanoma resistance.

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Supplementary Material

Supplementary Material File

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