Recombinant Microcystis viridis lectin as a potential anticancer agent.

MVL (Microcystis viridis lectin), a glycoprotein originally isolated from freshwater blue-green algae Microcystis viridis, has been reported to have potent anti-HIV activity. However, the objective of this study was to evaluate the anticancer activity of recombinant MVL (R-MVL). MTT assay was used to evaluate the in vitro anticancer activity of R-MVL, and the results show that the IC50 for HT-29, HepG2, SGC-7901 and SK-OV-3 were 40.20, 42.67, 49.87, and 53.40 microg/ml, respectively. Our data, for the first time, demonstrated that R-MVL exhibits potential anticancer activity, and open new therapeutic possibilities for the use of R-MVL as anti-cancer agent.