In Vitro Cytotoxicity of Native and Rec-Pediocin CP2 Against Cancer Cell Lines: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Pediocin CP2 is a natural antimicrobial peptide produced by Pediococcus acidilactici MTCC 5101. Its recombinant version was created by employing computational protein engineering approach and was expressed as a synthetic fusion protein in recombinant E. coli BL21(DE3)-pedA. Both native and rec-pediocin were comparatively evaluated for their cytotoxicity against HepG2 (a hepatocarcinoma cell line), HeLa (a cervical adenocarcinoma), MCF7 (a mammary gland adenocarcinoma) and Sp2/0-Ag14 (a spleen lymphoblast) cell lines. Inhibition of cell proliferation was quantitated by MTT assay and induction of apoptosis was studied by genomic DNA fragmentation assay. Results indicated a significantly higher cytotoxicity of rec-pediocin and damage of chromosomal DNA in bacteriocin tested cell lines.