Vol 12, Issue 3, 2019 Online - 2455-3891 Print - 0974-2441 ANTICANCER AND FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING POTENTIAL OF THE MARINE ALGICOLOUS ENDOPHYTIC FUNGUS CLADOSPORIUM UREDINICOLA VASAVI THIRUMALANADHUNI, LAVANYA LATHA YERRAGURAVAGARI 2 , VANI MATHAKALA 3 , UMA MAHESWARI DEVI PALEMPALLI 4 Department of Applied Microbiology, Sri Padmavathi Mahilavisvavidyalayam, Tirupati – 517 502, Andhra Pradesh, India. Email: vasavimicrobiology@gmail.com Received: 08 December 2018, Revised and Accepted: 15 January 2019 ABSTRACT Objective: The objective was to study the antioxidant and anticancer potential of the endophytic fungus Cladosporium uredinicola, isolated from the marine brown alga Dictyota dichotoma. Methods: Anticancer effect of the endophytic fungal extract was evaluated by 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay using MDA-MB-231 human mammary adenocarcinoma cells as in vitro cancer models. 3T3-L1 pancreatic adipocytes were used as in vitro models for the evaluation of cytotoxic activity against normal cells using MTT assay. Free radical scavenging activity was assessed by 2, 2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. Results: The ethyl acetate extract of the endophytic fungus showed potent cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-231 human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines with an inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) value of 373 µg/ml and a very mild cytotoxic effect on 3T3-L1 Cells with an IC 50 value of 2403 µg/ml. DPPH free radical scavenging assay of the extract showed an IC 50 value of 359 µg/ml indicating its potential free radical scavenging activity. Conclusion: The results indicated that the endophytic fungus C. uredinicola, isolated from the marine brown alga D. dichotoma, acts as a potential source for anticancer and antioxidant metabolites. Moreover, these anticancer metabolites were observed to be less toxic to the normal cells, which make them prospective therapeutic agents. Keywords: Marine endophytic fungi, Free radical scavenging, Cytotoxic, MDA-MB-231,3T3-L1 cells. INTRODUCTION Marine environment is considered to be a reservoir of pharmaceutically important bioactive compounds due to its rich biodiversity and extreme physical and chemical conditions. In recent years, a number of bioactive compounds were isolated from the marine organisms such as sponges, seaweeds, and microorganisms. Some of these compounds are under pre-clinical and clinical trials [1]. More than 10,000 secondary metabolites were reported to be isolated from marine organisms [2]. Some anticancer compounds such as “hemiasterlin” from the sponges and “elisidepsin” from molluscs are under clinical trials [3]. Marine microorganisms are more advantageous than other marine organisms since they can be cultured and manipulated in the laboratory very easily. Several marine bacteria, Actinomycetes, and fungi were screened for bioactive metabolites [4]. Antifungal compounds such as basilikamides A and B, anticancer compounds such as bacillistatins 1 and 2, and antioxidant compounds such as wentiquinone were reported from the marine microorganisms [2]. Among several marine microorganisms, marine endophytes are largely unexplored due to the problems associated in culturing them. Endophytes reside in the living tissues of the host without causing any apparent harmful effect. These peculiarities of lifestyle compel them to encounter host defense molecules continuously. It is that, due to this complexity, the endophytes were evolved to produce various unique metabolites, which could be exploited for pharmaceutical applications [5]. Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. According to the definition given by the World Health Organization, cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body in which there is a rapid creation of abnormal cells that grow beyond their usual boundaries and invade adjoining parts of the body and spread to other organs. The American Cancer Society reported cancer as the second most common cause of death next to cardiovascular diseases in the USA and Europe. Resistance to anticancer compounds and side effects of the drugs are the major problems associated with chemotherapy. In this context, there is an urgent need to develop new and safe drugs for cancer treatment. In the past 20 years, an increasing number of pharmaceutically useful compounds were reported [3]. Of the eight marine drugs approved for various purposes, five compounds, namely cytarabine, ziconotide, trabectedin, eribulin mesylate, and brentuximab, have been approved for cancer treatment [6]. With this background, the present study was carried out to evaluate the free radical scavenging and anticancer potential of the marine algicolous endophytic fungus Cladosporium uredinicola isolated from the marine brown alga Dictyota dichotoma. In this study, the antioxidant activity was screened by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay, whereas cytotoxic activity on both cancer and normal cells was evaluated by 3-(4, 5-Dimethylthiazol- 2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. METHODS Chemicals Ethyl acetate (EA) was obtained from SD Fine-Chem Limited, Mumbai, India. DPPH, MTT, Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s Medium (DMEM), phosphate-buffered saline, trypsin - HyClone, and ciprofloxacin (cell culture) were procured from HiMedia Laboratories, Mumbai, India. Medium for culturing of endophytic fungi A novel medium by name “MGM medium” (patented) was formulated for culturing of endophytic fungi [7]. © 2019 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4. 0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ajpcr.2019.v12i3.30977 Research Article