Disaccharides obtained from carrageenans as potential antitumor agents

CALVO, GUSTAVO H.; COSENZA, VANINA A.; SÁENZ, DANIEL A.; NAVARRO, DIEGO A.; STORTZ, CARLOS A.; CÉSPEDES, MARIELA A.; MAMONE, LEANDRO A.; CASAS, ADRIANA G.; DI VENOSA, GABRIELA M.

Scientific Reports

Nature Publishing Group

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2019 vol. 9

Carrageenans are sulfated galactans found in certain red seaweeds with proven biological activities.In this work, we have prepared purified native and degraded κ-, ι-; and λ-carrageenans, including thedisaccharides (carrabioses) and disaccharide-alditols (carrabiitols) from seaweed extracts as potentialantitumor compounds and identified the active principle of the cytotoxic and potential antitumorproperties of these compounds. Both κ and ι-carrageenan, as well as carrageenan oligosaccharidesshowed cytotoxic effect over LM2 tumor cells. Characterized disaccharides (carrabioses) and thereduced product carrabiitols, were also tested. Only carrabioses were cytotoxic, and among them,κ-carrabiose was the most effective, showing high cytotoxic properties, killing the cells through anapoptotic pathway. In addition, the cells surviving treatment with κ-carrabiose, showed a decreasedmetastatic ability in vitro, together with a decreased cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, thussuggesting possible antitumor potential. Overall, our results indicate that most cytotoxic compoundsderived from carrageenans have lower molecular weights and sulfate content. Potential applicationsof the results emerging from the present work include the use of disaccharide units such as carrabiosescoupled to antineoplasics in order to improve its cytotoxicity and antimetastaticproperties, and the useof ι-carrageenan as adjuvant or carrier in anticancer treatments.