Cytotoxic Effect of Enteromorpha clatherata Extract on Hela and MCF7 Cancer Cell Lines

Cancer is the second cause of death in the world. Current therapies for treating cancer are often restricted by short-term efficacy, even lead to the drug resistance. There has been increased interest in the use of natural compounds with chemotherapeutic effects for treatment of cancer. In this study, the effects of different concentrations of ethanolic extract of Enteromorpha clatherata, on human breast cancer cell (MCF-7) and cervix cancer cells (Hela) were investigated. Cell were produced in Pasteur Institute and were cultured under controlled conditions with RPMI containing 10% FBS and penicillin streptomycin in cell culture flasks, the cells were transferred to 96 well plates with 10.000 cells. Cells were exposed to different concentrations of extracts (0.156, 0.312, 0.625, 1.25, 2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10 mg/ml) that had been dissolved in RPMI with FBS. Cells cultured with all conditions without the presence of the drug as a control for 72 hours and cell toxicity was assessed with the MTT assay after 72 hours. The result of this study showed that ethanolic extract of Enteromorpha clatherata on both Hela cell and MCF-7 in 0.625 mg/ml concentration consistency reduces the growth of cells significantly in comparison to control group. This extract possesses cytotoxic effects in 0.156, 0.312, 1.25 concentrations and inhibit the growth of cells to 48 %, 66 % and 66 % in Hela and to 56 %, 65% and 70 % in MCF-7 MCF-7 in 0.625 mg/ml. The IC50 is 0.17 mg/ml in Hela and 0.19 mg/ml MCF-7 respectively. The results show that ethanolic extract of Enteromorpha clatherata caused the growth inhibition of cancer cells in Hela and MCF-7.