Encapsulation of phycocyanin by prebiotics and polysaccharides-based electrospun fibers and improved colon cancer prevention effects

To preserve bioactivity and achieve colon targeted release of phycocyanin (PC), the polysaccharides-based electrospun fiber mat (EFM) containing PC and prebiotics was prepared and characterized. In vitro release tests confirmed the colon targeting behavior of PC, in particular, faster release of PC was achieved due to the addition of prebiotics. Ritger–Peppas model confirmed that the release of PC in simulated colon fluids follows a mechanism of anomalous transport (non-Fickian). CCK-8 results showed that the combination of PC and prebiotics exerted a significant anti-proliferative effect on HCT116 cells with an IC50 values of 22.31, 17.12 and 11.63 mg/mL after 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively. Furthermore, the cell cycle and apoptosis analysis revealed that the inhibition activity on HCT116 cells was caused by arresting cell cycle at G0/G1 phase that is relevant to the inhibition of cyclin D1 and CDK4 and the up-regulation of p21 expression, and inducing cell apoptosis by mediating the mitochondrial pathway as well, in which the decrease of Bcl-2/Bax, activation of caspase 3 and release of cytochrome c were included. This study suggests that the PC-loaded EFM with GOS holds a great potential as an effective formulation for colon cancer prevention.