L-asparaginase Produced from Cow’s Milk Isolate of Lactobacillus plantarum Shows Potent Anti-cancer Activity on Cervical Cancer Cells

Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in women, occurring in more than a quarter of the developing countries of the world, with a slightly higher incidence in India. Many microbes producing L-asparaginase (ASNase) are used for the treatment of various cancers. However, previous studies have documented that long-term use of enzymes produced from these commercial strains triggers hypersensitivity in patients. Therefore, there is a need to find new microorganisms that produce L-asparaginase with anti-cancer properties, which can be used commercially in enzyme production. In the present study, of the 7 isolates, a single isolate of Lactobacillus plantarum had the highest enzyme production capacity. Purified enzyme can be obtained from fermented production medium by dialysis, thus showed a dose-depended cytotoxic effect on HeLa cells, as determined by MTT assay. The IC50 of the enzyme value was 0.75 IU µg/mL. This result indicates that L. plantarum producing L-asparaginase may be used for cancer treatment.