Abstract
In this study, the immuno-modulatory and anticancer activities of marine algae, Spirulina maxima grown in deep-sea water (DSW), were investigated. It was found that the extract of S. maxima, cultured in DSW, effectively suppressed the expression of Bcl2 in A549 cells as well as inhibiting various human cancer cells with concentration dependency, which possibly implies that the extracts may play more important roles in controlling cancer cell growth. The secretion of cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α from human B cells was also greatly increased, compared to those of the extract grown in conventional sea-water. The growth of Human Natural Killer (NK) cells in the presence of the extracts from DSW was significantly higher (12.2 × 104 viable cells/mL) when compared to the control (1.1 × 104 viable cells/mL). Based on HPLC analysis, the increase in the biological activities of the extracts from DSW was caused by considerably high amounts of β-carotene and ascorbic acid because the DSW contained high concentrations and good ratios of several key minerals for biosynthesizing β-carotene and ascorbic acid, as well as maintaining high cell growth.