Organic extract of Geodia cydonium induces cell cycle block in human mesothelioma cells

Our plain-English summary of Organic extract of Geodia cydonium induces cell cycle block in human mesothelioma cells, by F. Di Meo, R. Esposito, R. Cuciniello, et al (Oncology Letters, 2022).

The study

• Authors: F. Di Meo, R. Esposito, R. Cuciniello, G. Favale, M. Arenga, N. Ruocco, G. Nuzzo, A. Fontana, S. Filosa, S. Crispi, M. Costantini
• Journal: Oncology Letters
• Published: 2022;24(2):286
• Cited by: 4 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher · Free full text

Abstract

The serious side effects caused by chemotherapeutics and the development of cancer chemoresistance represent the most significant limitations in the treatment of cancer. Some alternative approaches have been developed in recent years, which are based on natural compounds, and have allowed important advances in cancer therapeutics. During the last 50 years, sponges have been considered a promising source of natural products from the marine environment, representing ~30% of all marine natural products. Among sponges, the Mediterranean species Geodia cydonium represents a potential source of these type of products with considerable biotechnological interest as pharmaceutical agents. The present study demonstrated the antiproliferative effect of an organic G. cydonium extract (GEOCYDO) against three human mesothelioma cell lines, MSTO-211H (MSTO), NCI-H2452 (NCI) and Ist-Mes2 (Mes2), which differ in their sensitivity (MSTO and NCI) and resistance (Mes2) to standard combined treatment with cisplatin and piroxicam. To this aim, the activity of the extract was evaluated by analyzing its effects on cell viability, cancer properties and cell cycle progression by means of colony formation assay, cell cycle analysis and protein expression analysis. The results revealed, in mesothelioma, this extract was able to reduce self-renewal, cell migration and it could induce cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 stage, thus blocking cell proliferation. In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, the present results indicated for the first time that GEOCYDO can contain active compounds able to affect cell proliferation in mesothelioma, suggesting that it could be considered as a potential novel drug source for cancer treatment.

Copyright: © Di Meo et al.

In plain English

This was a laboratory study on cells, not people. The authors made a methanol extract, called GEOCYDO, from the Mediterranean sea sponge Geodia cydonium, collected near Naples, Italy. They tested it on three human mesothelioma cell lines (MSTO-211H, NCI-H2452 and Ist-Mes2) and on a normal mesothelial cell line (MeT-5A). The study did not examine asbestos exposure. At 24 hours, the concentration that halved the measured viability of MSTO cells (the IC50) was about 500 µg/ml; that concentration had no effect on the normal cells. After 48 hours at 500 µg/ml, cell viability fell by 75% in MSTO, 70% in NCI and 80% in Mes2 cells compared with vehicle-treated control cells. The extract also reduced colony formation and the closing of a scratch in the cell layer. It held more cells at the G0/G1 stage of the cell cycle, with lower cyclin E levels. Of four extract fractions tested, only fraction C reduced viability in all three mesothelioma lines. The authors concluded the extract could be considered a candidate for a potential mesothelioma drug. The active compound was not identified.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: In vitro laboratory experiment on cultured cell lines, testing a sponge extract and its fractions
• Who was studied: Three human mesothelioma cell lines: MSTO-211H (MSTO), NCI-H2452 (NCI) and Ist-Mes2 (Mes2). The MSTO and NCI lines are described as sensitive, and Mes2 as resistant, to cisplatin plus piroxicam. The human mesothelial cell line MeT-5A was also tested. The sponge was collected at the 'Parco Sommerso di Baia' (Naples, Italy).
• Exposure: A methanol extract of the sponge Geodia cydonium (GEOCYDO) at 50, 150, 300 and 500 µg/ml for 16, 24 or 48 hours; 500 µg/ml was used in later experiments. Fractions B to E were tested at 200 µg/ml, and fraction C at 50 to 200 µg/ml. No asbestos exposure was studied.
• Main results:
  • In MSTO cells at 24 hours, the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the extract in the cell-viability assay was about 500 µg/ml.
  • The same concentration had no effect on the normal Met-5A mesothelial cells.
  • At 48 hours, cell viability was reduced by 75% in MSTO, 70% in NCI and 80% in Mes2 cells compared with vehicle-treated cells.
  • With 500 µg/ml extract, colony formation fell by about 50% after 24 hours. After 48 hours it fell by 65% in MSTO, 60% in NCI and 70% in Mes2 cells.
  • The extract significantly inhibited the cells' ability to close a scratch wound in all three mesothelioma cell lines.
  • The share of cells arrested in the G0/G1 phase increased after 24 and 48 hours in all cell lines, with a slight decrease in cells in the S and G2/M phases.
  • Cyclin E protein levels decreased in all three mesothelioma lines. p21 and p27 increased in MSTO and NCI cells, and p27 increased in Mes2 cells.
  • Of fractions B to E tested at 200 µg/ml for 24 hours, only fraction C decreased viability in all cell lines. Fraction C lowered the IC50 to about 150 µg/ml.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that GEOCYDO extract from the sponge G. cydonium could be considered a novel candidate as a potential antitumor drug for human malignant mesothelioma.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The wound-healing test could not fully distinguish an effect on cell migration from an effect on proliferation, because it was not done in low-serum conditions.
  • There was not enough fraction C to finish characterizing the active metabolite.
  • Fraction C is still a complex mixture, and further purification is needed to isolate the active compound.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Cisplatin.

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