Fucoxanthin treatment inhibits nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell proliferation through induction of autophagy mechanism

Abstract Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) arises from the epithelium of the nasopharyngeal mucosa. Elderly people above the age of 65 years are more susceptible to NPC. Nasopharyngectomy is the renowned treatment procedure to NPC; however, it is too risky due to its complicated surgical procedure. Other treatment methods also reported with serious side effects such brain injury; hence, the alternative anticancer drug without any side effects was needed. Fucoxanthin is a carotenoid derived from marine algae with the numerous pharmacological functions. This study aims to examine the inhibitory potential in NPC cell proliferation via apoptosis and autophagy. The cytotoxicity of fucoxanthin on C666‐1 cells was observed by the MTT assay. The expression of autophagy‐linked proteins was assessed with immunoblotting analysis. The expression of autophagy protein LC3 was estimated using immunocytochemical analysis in C666‐1 and GFP‐LC3 transfected cells. Furthermore, the fucoxanthin‐treated C666‐1 cells were analyzed with TUNEL assay. The apoptotic level in the fucoxanthin‐treated C666‐1 cells was evaluated using acridine orange staining. Fucoxanthin significantly increased the expression of autophagy‐linked proteins which is clearly depicted in the immunoblotting analysis and immunocytochemical analysis of GFP‐tagged LC3 protein. The results of TUNEL assay of fucoxanthin‐treated C666‐1 in the presence autophagy inhibitors demonstrated the induction of autophagy by fucoxanthin. Acridine orange staining results of C666‐1 confirmed fucoxanthin decreases the expression of autophagy‐linked proteins during stressed condition thereby causes apoptosis. Our overall results authentically conclude that fucoxanthin induces autophagy and apoptosis in NPC cell line, and it can be ideal agent to treat nasopharyngeal cancer in future with further investigations.