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Antitumor effects of cationic synthetic peptides derived from Lys49 phospholipase A 2 homologues of snake venoms
Author(s) -
Araya Cindy,
Lomonte Bruno
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
cell biology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.932
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1095-8355
pISSN - 1065-6995
DOI - 10.1016/j.cellbi.2006.11.007
Subject(s) - phospholipase a2 , biology , snake venom , paclitaxel , cell culture , venom , myotoxin , cytotoxicity , pharmacology , biochemistry , cancer research , cancer , enzyme , in vitro , genetics
The effects of two cationic synthetic peptides, derived from the C‐terminal region of Lys49 phospholipase A 2 homologues from snake venoms, upon various murine tumor cell lines (B16 melanoma, EMT6 mammary carcinoma, S‐180 sarcoma, P3X myeloma, tEnd endothelial cells) were evaluated. The peptides are 13‐mers derived from Agkistrodon piscivorus piscivorus Lys49 PLA 2 (p‐AppK: KKYKAYFKLKCKK) and Bothrops asper Lys49 myotoxin II (pEM‐2[ d ]: KKWRWWLKALAKK), respectively, in the latter case with slight modifications and with all‐ d amino acids. All tumor cells tested were susceptible to the lytic action of the peptides. The susceptibility of tumor cell lines was not higher than that of C2C12 skeletal muscle myoblasts, utilized as a non‐transformed cell line control. However, in a murine model of subcutaneous solid tumor growth of EMT6 mammary carcinoma, the intraperitoneal administration of pEM‐2[ d ] caused a tumor mass reduction of 36% ( p < 0.05), which was of similar magnitude to that achieved by the administration of paclitaxel, an antitumor drug in clinical use. Thus, the C‐terminal peptides of Lys49 phospholipase A 2 homologues present antitumor effects that might be of interest in developing therapeutic strategies against cancer.