Brazilian Wasp Venom Kills Cancer Cells

A recent study published in Biophysical Journal has shown that a Brazilian wasp known as Polybia paulista produces venom that may be extremely helpful in cancer research.

The wasp's toxin, called MP1, selectively targets and kills cancerous cells, all while leaving unaffected healthy cells unharmed. In laboratory tests, the poison has been shown to suppress the growth of prostate and bladder cancer cells, as well as leukaemia cells resistant to a range of drugs, according to the Guardian. 

Per Science Daily, MP1 interacts with lipids that are abnormally distributed on the surface of cancer cells, creating gaping holes that allow molecules crucial for cell function to leak out. 

"Cancer therapies that attack the lipid composition of the cell membrane would be an entirely new class of anticancer drugs," co-senior study author Paul Beales, of the University of Leeds in the UK, said. "This could be useful in developing new combination therapies, where multiple drugs are used simultaneously to treat a cancer by attacking different parts of the cancer cells at the same time." 

It was unclear how MP1 selectively destroyed cancer cells without harming normal cells, but Beales and co-senior study author João Ruggiero Neto, of São Paulo State University in Brazil, suspect that it may have to do with the unique properties of the membranes of cancerous cells.

In healthy cell membranes, phospholipids called phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) are located in the inner membrane leaflet facing the inside of the cell. But in cancer cells, PS and PE are embedded in the outer membrane leaflet facing the cell surroundings, according to Science Daily.

Beales and Neto tested this theory by making their own membranes, some containing PE and/or PS, and then exposing them to the MP1 toxin. As a result of these tests, they saw PS increase the binding of MP1 to the cell membrane by a factor of 7 to 8. Additionally, the presence of PE made MP1's ability to alter the membrane more powerful, with hole sizes increasing by a 20 to 30 factor, according to Phys. 

"Understanding the mechanism of action of this peptide will help in translational studies to further assess the potential for this peptide to be used in medicine," Beales said. "As it has been shown to be selective to cancer cells and non-toxic to normal cells in the lab, this peptide has the potential to be safe, but further work would be required to prove that." 

The team plans to run further tests to see how the structure of the toxin relates to its function in destroying cancerous cells, in hopes to find a way to replicate it safely.

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