BackgroundVenoms comprise mixtures of numerous bioactive compounds that have a wide range of pharmacologic actions. Toxins from venomous animals have attracted the attention of researchers because of their affinity for primary sites responsible for lethality and their efficacy at extremely low concentrations. The venoms of marine stingrays have not been extensively studied and limited data is available on them. The present study aims to evaluate the antiproliferative and biochemical properties of the venom obtained from a species of marine stingray (Dasyatis sephen) on human cervical cancer cell line HeLa.MethodsThe antiproliferative effect of D. sephen venom was determined by MTT assay, and the oxidative stress was determined by lipid peroxidation method along with assessment of changes in the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant status. We observed intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels by DCFH-DA method, mitochondrial membrane potential alterations by rhodamine 123 staining and apoptotic morphological changes by acridine orange/ethidium bromide dual staining method.ResultsD. sephen venom enhances lipid peroxidative markers such as thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, conjugated diene, and lipid hydroperoxide in HeLa cell lines. Stingray venom enhances the ROS levels, which is evidenced by the increased 2–7-diacetyl dichlorofluorescein fluorescence. Further, D. sephen venom treatment altered the mitochondrial membrane potential in HeLa cells. Additionally, we observed increased apoptotic morphological changes in D. sephen venom-treated groups.ConclusionsDasyatis sephen venom exhibits potent antiproliferative effect on HeLa cell line and upon further purification it could be a promising antiproliferative agent.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40409-015-0036-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The prevalence of neurological diseases is increasing too rapidly in ageing population in world. In traditional practice of medicine of natural products has been reported to treat neurological disorders. Para-coumaric acid is a hydroxycinnamic acid and reported for various pharmacological activities such as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-ulcer and anti-inflammatory effects. But clinical application of para-coumaric acid is limited due to its poor dissolution rate. Polymeric nanoparticles have been reported for targeted drug delivery system. With this information, our study focused to formulate para-coumaric acid loaded chitosan nanoparticles in order to evaluate its neuroprotective potential against neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cell line. Different formulations (F1, F2, F3) of Para-coumaric acid loaded chitosan nanoparticles (PCA-NPs) was prepared by simple ionic cross-linking method. Formulated PCA-NPs were subjected to characterization methods such as SEM analysis, Drug loading and Entrapment efficiency, in-vitro drug release and Stability studies. The in vitro cyto-toxicity assay of formulated PCA-NPs was performed against neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cell line. This study indicated that F2-formulationof PCA-NPs showed improved dissolution rate of drug and considerable neuro-protective activity against neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y) cell line in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, the study concluded that nanoparticle formulation could be suitable for targeted drug delivery system against neurological disorder.