Chitin Derivative from Marine Source Artemia franciscana Cysts Inhibits Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells by Regulating Apoptotic Mediators

Poovazhagi, Rajendran; Thirunavukkarasu, Subramani; Santhosh, Jeferson Stanley; Lakshmanan, Kasi; Javee, Anand; Dhanashekaran, Cecileya Jasmin Meshak; Radhakrishnan, Narayanaswamy; Prabhu, Venugopal Vinod; Sakthivel, Kunnathur Murugesan; Rasmi, Rajan Radha; Hwang, Jiang-Shiou

doi:10.5530/pres.20252138

Original ArticlePharmacognosy ResearchVol. 17 | Issue 3 | 2025 | pp. 973–982Open access

Chitin Derivative from Marine Source Artemia franciscana Cysts Inhibits Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells by Regulating Apoptotic Mediators

¹,
²^*,
⁴,
⁵,
⁶,
^7,8,
⁷,
⁸,
⁹,
¹⁰,
^2,3^*

¹ Quaid-e-Millath Government College for Women, University of Madras, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
² Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, TAIWAN.
³ Center of Excellence for the Oceans, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, TAIWAN.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
⁵ Department of Chemical Engineering, Algappa college of technology, Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
⁶ Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
⁷ Department of Biochemistry, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (Deemed to be University), Thandalam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
⁸ School of Sciences, Department of Microbiology, P P. Savani University, Dhamdod, Kosamba, Surat, Gujarat, INDIA.
⁹ Department of Biochemistry, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
¹⁰ Department of Biotechnology, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.

Correspondence: Subramani Thirunavukkarasu
Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, TAIWAN.
Email: subramanithirunavukkarasu@gmail.com

Published:: Jan 1, 2025
Received:: Feb 18, 2025
Accepted:: Jun 6, 2025
DOI:: 10.5530/pres.20252138

How to cite

Poovazhagi, R., Thirunavukkarasu, S., Santhosh, J. S., Lakshmanan, K., Javee, A., Dhanashekaran, C. J. M., Radhakrishnan, N., Prabhu, V. V., Sakthivel, K. M., Rasmi, R. R., & Hwang, J. S. (2025). Chitin Derivative from Marine Source Artemia franciscana Cysts Inhibits Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells by Regulating Apoptotic Mediators. Pharmacognosy Research, 17(3), 973–982. https://doi.org/10.5530/pres.20252138

Abstract

Background

Chitin is widely preferred in biomedical application due to its biocompatible and biodegradable nature. Naturally occurring chitin is a potential antimicrobial agent and plays a major role in degrading outer shell wall of the lower crustaceans. Naturally occurring sources of chitin are more suitable for oncological research.

Objectives

In the present study, the chitin derivative isolated from marine source (Artemia franciscana cysts) is evaluated for its potential to act as a therapeutic target for colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Materials and Methods

The FTIR and X-ray diffraction analysis of the isolated chitin has confirmed the presence of characteristic functional groups such as amide groups, hydroxyl groups and glycosidic linkages along with their material's crystalline structure.

Results

The anticancer activity of extracted chitin derivative showed significant cytotoxic effect in this study which could be attributed to their positively charged functional groups. Further mRNA gene expression analysis has revealed that the chitin derivative also exhibited apoptotic potential against HT29 cell lines by upregulating caspase-3 and caspase-9 gene and by down regulation of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) gene expressions.

Conclusion

In conclusion the present study showed that the Artemia sp. cyst-mediated chitin derivative could be a potential anticancer agent against colorectal adenocarcinoma through their anti-proliferative activity and by activation of apoptotic pathway in HT29 cell lines.

Keywords

Subject

Article metadata

Title	Chitin Derivative from Marine Source Artemia franciscana Cysts Inhibits Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cells by Regulating Apoptotic Mediators
Authors	Rajendran Poovazhagi; Subramani Thirunavukkarasu; Jeferson Stanley Santhosh; Kasi Lakshmanan; Anand Javee; Cecileya Jasmin Meshak Dhanashekaran; Narayanaswamy Radhakrishnan; Venugopal Vinod Prabhu; Kunnathur Murugesan Sakthivel; Rajan Radha Rasmi; Jiang-Shiou Hwang
Affiliations	Quaid-e-Millath Government College for Women, University of Madras, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.; Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, TAIWAN.; Center of Excellence for the Oceans, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, TAIWAN.; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.; Department of Chemical Engineering, Algappa college of technology, Anna University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.; Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.; Department of Biochemistry, Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (Deemed to be University), Thandalam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.; School of Sciences, Department of Microbiology, P P. Savani University, Dhamdod, Kosamba, Surat, Gujarat, INDIA.; Department of Biochemistry, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.; Department of Biotechnology, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, INDIA.
Corresponding author	subramanithirunavukkarasu@gmail.com
Journal	Pharmacognosy Research
Volume / Issue	Vol. 17, Issue 3 (2025)

Also in this issue

Readers Also Viewed

Original Article

AMR Curator-An Interactive Platform for Analysing AMR Literature Using NLP

Umesh Rani, Naval Singh, Deepshikha Kaushik

Aug 11, 2026

Short Communication

Epigenetic Mechanisms of Foetal Imprinting: Integrating Garbha-Sanskar with Prenatal Stress and Cognitive Development

Manoj Mahavir Khavate, Dipess Ramdas Chikane, Sanket Rajendra Vakte