Extract of Indian green mussel, Perna viridis (L.) shows inhibition of blood capillary formation in vitro

The extract of the Indian green mussel (Perna viridis L.) was found to inhibit the formation of endothelial cell capillary tube in a concentration dependent manner in vitro. At a concentration of 5 mg/ml of crude extract, there no formation of intercellular junctions and capillary tubes was observed, even after 6 hours. However, at the concentrations below 1 mg/ml, a few cellular junctions and formation of capillaries began to increase at both concentrations of 0.2 and 0.04 mg/ml. The aqueous fraction was also found to inhibit the capillary and junction formations at 5 mg/ml, but it was less effective at lower concentrations, as compared to the total crude extract. The methanol (MeOH) extract was more active than that of the aqueous extract; hence, it was further fractionated into 5 fractions (F1 to F5) and tested for the presence of angiogenic activity. Fraction 3 (F3), which was used at 100 μg/ml concentration, showed a significant inhibitory effect on the formation of intercellular junctions and tube, whereas the other fractions did not show any activity.