Abstract

We have previously reported the cytotoxic effect of the ink extracts of cuttlefish and squid on chick embryo fibroblast cells. In the present study we report the isolation, purification and characterization of the cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg ink and the study of anticancer property of peptidoglycan fraction on cervical cancer cells-HeLa and Caski. The ink from cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis was first extracted using Tris-HCl and fractionated using ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography. Molecular mass and chemical composition of the fraction was determined. Pigment and sugar content were analysed and aminoacids were quantified by HPLC. Anticancer property of the fraction was studied using cervical cancer cell lines- HeLa and Caski. The ink of Cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis were extracted and fractionated using ion exchange and gel filtration chromatography and separated the fraction C₂. Further analysis showed that the fraction C₂ was an uronic acid rich peptidoglycan (molecular mass 10 KD) and it is made up of five amino acids namely aspartic acid, serine, threonine, glutamic acid and alanine. Purified fraction C₂ of cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis showed a significant anticancer activity through inducing typical morphological characters of apoptosis like chromatin condensation, membrane blebbing and DNA damage on cervical cancer cells in vitro. These findings suggest the profound anticarcinogenic activity of purified peptidoglycan fraction of cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg ink on cervical cancer cells and thus render itself as a potential chemotherapeutic drug for the treatment of cervical cancer.