Cancers, Vol. 11, Pages 1109: Synergistic Effects of Melittin and Plasma Treatment: A Promising Approach for Cancer Therapy

Cancers, Vol. 11, Pages 1109: Synergistic Effects of Melittin and Plasma Treatment: A Promising Approach for Cancer Therapy Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers11081109 Authors: Priyanka Shaw Naresh Kumar Dietmar Hammerschmid Angela Privat-Maldonado Sylvia Dewilde Annemie Bogaerts Melittin (MEL), a small peptide component of bee venom, has been reported to exhibit anti-cancer effects in vitro and in vivo. However, its clinical applicability is disputed because of its non-specific cytotoxicity and haemolytic activity in high treatment doses. Plasma-treated phosphate buffered saline solution (PT-PBS), a solution rich in reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) can disrupt the cell membrane integrity and induce cancer cell death through oxidative stress-mediated pathways. Thus, PT-PBS could be used in combination with MEL to facilitate its access into cancer cells and to reduce the required therapeutic dose. The aim of our study is to determine the reduction of the effective dose of MEL required to eliminate cancer cells by its combination with PT-PBS. For this purpose, we have optimised the MEL threshold concentration and tested the combined treatment of MEL and PT-PBS on A375 melanoma and MCF7 breast cancer cells, using in vitro, in ovo and in silico approaches. We investigated the cytotoxic effect of MEL and PT-PBS alone and in combination to reveal their synergistic cytological effects. To support the in vitro and in ovo experiments, we showed by computer simula...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research