1Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif21944, Saudi Arabia.
2Department of Computer Engineering, College of Computers and Information Technology, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
*Corresponding Author: Nahed Ahmed Hussien, Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, Taif21944, Saudi Arabia. Email: n.nahed@tu.edu.sa
Chlorella, a green alga, is rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds that support health and has potential as a source of natural therapeutic agents.
Chlorella's phytochemicals were analyzed using GC-MS and its antimicrobial and anticancer properties were evaluated. Molecular docking was performed with the major active compounds of Chlorella targeting caspase-9.
Chlorella extract contains trimethylsilyl palmitate (20.22%), oleic acid (9.87%) and arachidic acid methyl ester (6.12%). It exhibits antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Candida albicans, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and bactericidal concentrations (MBC) above 1000 μg/mL, indicating relatively low antimicrobial potency. Chlorella extract exhibited inhibitory activity against Huh-7 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, with an IC50 above 100 μg/mL. After docking with caspase-9, methyl arachidate is the most effective compound, with a binding affinity of-4.5 kcal/mol. It meets Lipinski's rule, shows drug-like properties via SwissADME and has low predicted toxicity (LD50≍5000 mg/kg). It is stabilized in the binding pocket with three hydrophobic and two hydrogen bonds. This initial finding suggests that Chlorella could be a promising candidate for HCC treatment.
Antimicrobial, Caspase-9, Chlorella, Huh-7, In silico, Phytochemicals
