Thursday, September 3, 2015

Brazilian wasp venom with the ability to kill cancer cells safely

A specific species of wasp, which uses a venom injected into its victims as defense, was discovered by Prof. Mario Palma of Sao Paulo State University to have very useful and almost unprecedented properties that could change cancer treatment.



The Brazilain social wasp Polybia paulista's venom contains a toxin known as called MP1 (polybia-MP1) which selectivly kills cancer cells without harming surrounding normal cells. The toxin distributes itself on the phospholipid bilayer creating a gaping hole through which components crucial to the cells life leak out, the cell soon after dies.

The venom had already been tested and proven to inhibit the growth of prostate and bladder cancer cells, as well as multi-drug resistant leukemic cells. However, until now, it was not clear how MP1 selectively destroys cancer cells without harming normal 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.

In future studies, the researchers plan to alter MP1's amino acid sequence to examine how the peptide's structure relates to its function and further improve the peptide's selectivity and potency for clinical purposes. 

The new article from science daily can be found here http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150901134941.htm


4 comments:

  1. I might just let the next wasp sting me.
    Just kidding, I'm gonna swat that thing.
    On a serious note, this is an amazing read. I hope we get to utilize this bilayer-hole-punching toxin in clinical trials soon.

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  2. I think this article is extremely interesting and I LOVE that medicine is beginning to use the resources that we have naturally available to us, even though it is painful in this case. Yes, using the chemicals made in labs we know will help is the easy way but possibly using the natural "remedies" available to us on this planet to cure something as awful as cancer is amazing.

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  3. Bee stings suck as they are now, but if being stung by this wasp can prove advantageous in terms of killing cancer cells, I still won't like it but I'll get stung for a cure.

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  4. I am amazed by this! Not only is it more of a holistic approach, but the fact that it does not destroy surrounding cells is ground-breaking because we know how chemotherapy can harm the majority of cells in the body. This targets cancerous cells and would probably have less painful and harmful side effects.

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