Astaxanthin (AST) has attracted great interests in the scientific world because of its anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory properties. And biodegradable materials, like chitosan, have been employed as the AST carrier to protect it from degradation and promote its bioavailability. However, the lack of pH responsiveness of these materials usually could not protect AST from the strong acidic gastric juices. In this study, calcium alginate (CA) microspheres, a pH responsive and biodegradable material, were prepared by a modified double emulsion technology and used as the AST encapsulation agent. Experimental results showed that the microparticles formed had a good degree of roundness, dispersity, encapsulation efficiency, and pH responsiveness. Cellular studies demonstrated that AST encapsulated in CA could inhibit hepatoma cells (HepG2 cell line) but it has relatively small or no impact on control hepatocytes (THLE-2 cell line). Furthermore, investigation of the underlying mechanism indicated that recovery of disorder of glucose metabolism by inhibiting aerobic glycolysis and promoting tricarboxylic acid cycle played an important part in the cell proliferation inhibition of hepatoma cells. As suggested above, AST could be a very promising therapeutic agent of liver cancer in clinical trials.

中文翻译：

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虾青素包裹在可生物降解的海藻酸钙微球中，用于体外治疗肝细胞癌。

虾青素（AST）具有抗氧化，抗炎特性，因此在科学界引起了极大的兴趣。壳聚糖等可生物降解材料已被用作AST载体，以保护其免于降解并提高其生物利用度。但是，这些材料缺乏pH响应能力通常不能保护AST免受强酸性胃液的侵害。在这项研究中，藻酸钙（CA）微球是一种具有pH响应性且可生物降解的材料，它是通过改良的双重乳液技术制备的，并用作AST封装剂。实验结果表明，所形成的微粒具有良好的圆度，分散度，包封效率和pH响应度。细胞研究表明，封装在CA中的AST可以抑制肝癌细胞（HepG2细胞系），但对对照肝细胞（THLE-2细胞系）的影响相对较小或没有影响。此外，对潜在机制的研究表明，通过抑制有氧糖酵解和促进三羧酸循环来恢复葡萄糖代谢紊乱在肝癌细胞的细胞增殖抑制中起重要作用。如上所述，AST在临床试验中可能是非常有希望的肝癌治疗剂。对潜在机制的研究表明，通过抑制有氧糖酵解和促进三羧酸循环来恢复葡萄糖代谢紊乱在肝癌细胞的细胞增殖抑制中起着重要的作用。如上所述，AST在临床试验中可能是非常有希望的肝癌治疗剂。对潜在机制的研究表明，通过抑制有氧糖酵解和促进三羧酸循环来恢复葡萄糖代谢紊乱在肝癌细胞的细胞增殖抑制中起着重要的作用。如上所述，AST在临床试验中可能是非常有希望的肝癌治疗剂。