Month/Year of Graduation

5-2026

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Biomedical Biology (BTCHBS)

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Kristen Johnson, PhD

Abstract

Astaxanthin (AXT) is an antioxidant carotenoid that is produced by the microalgae Haemococcus pluvialis. This supplement is best known for its potential health benefits including anti-inflammatory, antitumor, immunomodulatory, anticancer and antidiabetic activities. Astaxanthin is marketed as an oral dietary supplement and is widely used in the nutraceutical industry as well as a coloring agent in the food industry. Since Astaxanthin has been increasingly popular as a dietary supplement, cytotoxicity is relevant to consumer exposure. Obtaining the IC50, the concentration that inhibits 50% of cell growth, is important to find how Astaxanthin may interact with cancer, and this can be found through drug treatment of a cancer cell line. HT29 cells, derived from human colorectal cancer, provide a relevant model to explore whether high Astaxanthin exposure can reduce tumor cell proliferation. This reflects the potential to have a therapeutic effect or possibly reveal cytotoxicity risks at high concentrations. This experiment first exposes HT29 cells to increasing concentrations of Astaxanthin over a 48-hour period. Trypan Blue will assess loss of membrane integrity to determine if AXT is primarily cytotoxic or acts through metabolic suppression and to calculate an overall IC50. To evaluate the impact of AXT on cancer cell migration, a scratch assay was performed following treatment. These assays provide insight into AXT's potential as a therapeutic dietary supplement. Future directions are recommended to explore the transcriptional changes in genes associated with apoptosis, proliferation, and cell-cycle regulation, including PCNA, Bax, Cyclin D1, and Caspase-3, for analysis for future use with qPCR.

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