Bee venom is a toxic liquid secreted by bee venom glands such as bees and wasps. Its main component is a bee venom peptide composed of 26 amino acid residues. It is currently one of the most anti-inflammatory substances known to humans and has significant therapeutic effects in antibacterial, radiation resistant, antiviral, and other aspects.
Recently, an article published in “NPJ Precision Oncology” laid the foundation for its use in cancer treatment by revealing the molecular mechanism and selectivity of the biomolecular components of bee venom as anticancer drugs.
Specifically, researchers from the Medical Research Center of the University of Western Australia tested the anticancer properties of 312 bee and bumblebee venoms in breast cancer. They found that melittin could completely destroy the cancer cell membrane within 60 minutes, and that bee venom of a specific concentration could induce 100% cancer cell death, but had little impact on normal cells.
Bee Venom Reduces the Growth of Tumors in Plants
As early as 1950, Nature magazine published the first reports on the effects of bee venom, which reduced the growth of tumors in plants. However, it was not until the past two decades that people had a strong interest in the role of bee venom in different cancers.
At present, bee venom and melittin have shown anti-tumor effects in melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma cells, leukemia, etc., but the effects of different bee venom and melittin on breast cancer subtypes have not been studied. Understanding artificial synthetic melittin: Omizzur – Custom peptide synthesis companies
In this experiment, the researchers first tested bee venom and melittin on normal breast cancer cells and breast cancer clinical subtype cells, and found that both have significant effects, can selectively and rapidly reduce the vitality of three negative breast cancer cells and breast cancer cells rich in human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2, proto oncogene), and have little effect on normal cells. In addition, melittin is the most prominent biologically active anticancer compound in venom. However, compared to bees, the concentration of melittin in bumblebees is relatively low.
In order to examine the mechanism and dynamics of cell death, the researchers treated the three negative breast cancer cells with bee venom or melittin at a semi inhibitory concentration (IC50) for 18 hours and 24 hours, and quantified the death of apoptotic cells through cut caspase3 analysis. It was found that melittin alone induced higher levels of apoptosis than bee venom.
In subsequent experiments, researchers found that melittin can completely destroy the cancer cell membrane within 60 minutes and significantly reduce the chemical information necessary for cancer cell growth and cell division within 20 minutes. However, bumblebee venom cannot induce cell death even at very high concentrations.
In further research, researchers found that melittin integrates into the plasma membrane of cancer cells through charged sequences present at the C-terminal, thereby inducing plasma membrane remodeling and destruction.
Dr. Ciara Duffy, the lead author of the report and the medical research center of the University of Western Australia, said: “Under the influence of bee venom, the cancer signal pathway was quickly closed. Melittin regulates the signal transduction of breast cancer cells by inhibiting the activation of the receptor epidermal growth factor receptor, which is usually overexpressed in triple negative breast cancer, and inhibits the activation of HER2 overexpressed in breast cancer rich in HER2.”
Can Melittin Be Used Together with Chemotherapy Drugs
In addition, this study also tested whether melittin can be used together with existing chemotherapy drugs, and found that melittin can be used together with small molecule compounds or chemotherapy drugs (such as docetaxel) to treat highly invasive breast cancer. The combination of melittin and docetaxel is very effective in reducing tumor growth in mice.
Professor Peter Klinken, the Chief Scientist of Western Australia who participated in this study, said: “It is an incredible surprise to find that melittin, the main component of bee venom, can inhibit the growth of deadly breast cancer cells, especially triple negative breast cancer. More importantly, this study demonstrates how melittin interferes with the signal pathway in breast cancer cells to reduce cell replication. It provides another excellent example that natural compounds can be used to treat human diseases.”
In summary, this study provides a reference for assisting in the development of new treatments for various cancers associated with frequent drug resistance and poor prognosis. However, researchers also pointed out that further evaluation of the optimal delivery method, toxicity, and maximum tolerable dose of melittin is needed before conducting human experiments.
References:
- Honeybee venom and melittin suppress growth factor receptor activation in HER2 enriched and triple negative breast cancer.
- Venom from honey bees found to kill aggressive breast cancer cells
