ABSTRACT
Despite the complications in isolation of pigments, microbial pigments are increasingly gaining the attention of researchers because of their broad range therapeutic potentials, especially against cancer. In this study the cytotoxic and anti proliferative potentials of yellow pigment from Streptomyces griseoaurantiacus JUACT 01 isolated from soil are investigated. The effect of pigment treatment on the growth and proliferation of in vitro cervical cancer cells (HeLa) and liver cancer cells (Hep G2) was tested by various methods. Significant cytotoxicity was observed with IC 50 values as low as 1.5 and 1.8 µg /mL with HeLa and Hep G2 cells respectively. The pigment exhibited non toxic effects on human lymphocytes. Decrease in the number of viable cells, presence of apoptotic bodies, nuclear condensation and sheared DNA were distinctly observed in pigment treated cancer cells. The biochemical test and the infrared (IR) spectra indicated the probable carotenoid presence in the TLC purified pigment fraction. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the TLC purified yellow pigment showed a single large peak with a retention time of 9.90 min and m/z value corresponding to the peak was found to be 413.22 showing 100% relative abundance.
Key words:
Anticancer activity; ESI-MS; Fluorescence microscopy; Streptomyces griseoaurantiacus JUACT 01; yellow pigment
