Anticancer effects of Chlorella sorokiniana Shihira and R. W. Krauss extract via Bcl-2/Bax modulation and AMPK-α activation in hepatoma cells

Research on selectively inducing apoptosis in cancer cells is ongoing, yet effective natural compounds with fewer side effects are still needed. This study investigated the anticancer potential of Chlorella sorokiniana extract (CSE) in hepatoma cells. CSE showed high TPC (4.49 mg GAE/g DM) and TFC (0.86 mg QE/g DM) with strong ROS scavenging activity (9.0–45.0%). LC–MS/MS analysis suggested lutein, liquiritigenin, isorhamnetin, kaempferol as key metabolites responsible for apoptotic effects. CSE suppressed Hep3B cell viability by 22.1% without cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells and induced apoptosis via upregulation of Bax, AMPK-α, and caspase-3 (28.9–83.5%) and downregulation of Bcl-2 and VEGF (33.0–43.9%). Notably, apoptosis was enhanced (25.7%) in p53-deficient Hep3B cells, implying heightened susceptibility to CSE. These findings suggest C. sorokiniana has the potential to serve as a natural compound capable of selectively inducing apoptosis in liver cancer cells, indicating its potential as a foundational material for drug development.