en 26855733 <p>Background: Marine organisms provide appreciable source of novel bioactive compounds with pharmacological potential. There is little information in correlation with anti-cancer activities of brittle star. In the present study, anti-neoplastic efficacy of <em>Ophiocoma erinaceus</em> methanol extract against human cervical cancer cells was investigated.<br /> Methods: The HeLa cells were cultured and exposed to brittle star methanol extract for 24 and 48 <em>hr</em>. The anti-proliferative properties were examined by MTT assay and the type of cell death induced was evaluated through morphological changes, flow cytometry, Annexin kit and caspase assay. To assess the anti-metastatic activity, wound healing assay was conducted and photographs were taken from the scratched areas. Further, to understand molecular mechanism of cell apoptosis, the expression of Bax was evaluated.<br /> Results: The morphological analysis and MTT assay exhibited that the brittle star methanol extract can exert dose dependent inhibitory effect on cells viability (IC₅₀, 50 <em>&mu;g/ml</em>). Flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy demonstrated increment of sub-G1 peak, early and late apoptosis in HeLa treated cells. Wound healing migration assay showed that brittle star extract has anti-neoplastic efficacy by inhibiting cell migration. Caspase assay and RT-PCR analysis revealed that brittle star methanol extract induced caspase dependent apoptosis in HeLa cells through up-regulation of caspase-3 followed by up-regulation of Bax gene which is a hallmark of intrinsic pathway recruitment.<br /> Conclusion: These results represented further insights into the chemopreventive potential of brittle star as a valuable source of unknown therapeutic agents against human cervical cancer.</p> Apoptosis, Brittle star, Uterine cervical neoplasms 29 35 https://www.ajmb.org/En/Article.aspx?id=230 https://www.ajmb.org/PDF/En/FullText/230.pdf JavadBahararaDepartment of Biology, Research Center for Animal Developmental Applied Biology, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran937ElahehAminiDepartment of Animal Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran732FaridehNamvarInstitute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, University Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia956