Macrovipera lebetina obtusa Snake Venom as a Modulator of Antitumor Effect in S-180 Sarcoma Mouse Model

• Published in: Molecular biology (New York) Vol. 55; no. 3; pp. 405 - 412
• Main Authors: Ghazaryan, N., Movsisyan, N., Macedo, J. C., Vaz, S., Ayvazyan, N., Pardo, L., Logarinho, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01-05-2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Angiogenesis; Antitumor activity; Apoptosis; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Caspase-8; Cell death; Chorioallantoic membrane; Cytotoxicity; Delta cells; Endothelial cells; Fibroblast growth factor 2; Human Genetics; Life Sciences; Macrovipera lebetina obtusa; Microvasculature; Molecular Cell Biology; Necroptosis; Poisons; Sarcoma; Snakes; Tumors; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Venom; Venomous snakes; snake venom; sarcoma; angiogenesis; necroptosis
• ISSN: 0026-8933; 1608-3245
• DOI: 10.1134/S0026893321020217

Macrovipera lebetina obtusa
(MLO) is a venomous snake endemic to Middle East. Here we describe the therapeutic potential of the MLO snake venom. In S-180 sarcoma-bearing mouse model, we showed that the MLO snake venom inhibits tumour growth by 50%. In human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HMVEC-D), treatment with the MLO snake venom lead to an increase of expression levels of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), while the level of the expression of caspase 8 did not change. In HMVEC-D cells MLO snake venom induces necroptosis, rather than apoptosis. In the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay, exposure to MLO snake venom inhibited bFGF-induced angiogenesis by 22%. Taken together, these results indicate that the MLO snake venom has a potent cytotoxic activity. Regulated necroptic cell death pathway, which is engaged by MLO snake venom, may become a promising novel target for antitumor therapies.