Chemical profiling of marine seaweed Halimeda gracilis using UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS and evaluation of anticancer activity targeting PI3K/AKT and intrinsic apoptosis signaling pathway.

Marine seaweeds are predominant for nutraceuticals and have been food source since ancient times and are currently being used in Chinese medicines and Japanese traditional medicines. In the present study, the chemical profile analysis of Halimeda gracilis was performed using UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS analysis and assessed for its anticancer activity. A cursory investigation of the total ion chromatograms of the both methanol (MHG) and ethyl acetate (EAHG) of H. gracilis extracts reveals that both extracts have different kind of metabolites including phenols and its derivatives, diterpenes, cinnamic acids derivatives etc. The in vitro anticancer activity of EAHG and MHG exhibiting significant activity and induced apoptosis against skin cancer cells by generating excessive ROS, damaging the mitochondrial membrane and nuclear components. Further, the western blot analysis showed that the EAHG and MHG downregulates the oncoproteins PI3K, AKT, p-AKT, and BcL2 and upregulates the apoptotic proteins Bax, Cyto C, p21, p53, Caspase 9 and Caspase 3. To best of our knowledge, this is the first report which implies the UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS based chemical profiling of H. gracilis and can be used for the treatment of cancer.