Polybia wasp venom Paulista, a species originating in Brazil, could become a "weapon" extremely effective in fighting cancer because it can destroy tumors without affecting healthy cells.
According to a study published in Biophysical Journal, this week, this wasp venom contains a toxin called MP1, which selectively destroy tumors without affecting healthy cells.
In laboratory tests, researchers have shown that the MP1 inhibit tumor growth in patients diagnosed with prostate cancer and bladder cancer, as well as the spread of the diseased cells in the blood of patients diagnosed with leukemia, which were previously resistant to a range of products.
Toxin interacts with lipids outside membranes of cancer cells. Then venom breaks protective membrane structure, creating "holes" that allow molecules that play a critical role in cancer cell survival leak outside.
According to the study coordinator, Joao Neto, a doctor at the University of Sao Paulo state, those holes in the cell membrane of cancer just need a few seconds to form under the action of venom.
Since healthy cells do not show those fat on their outer shell (the inner membrane of the cell but) it seems that they are not affected by the toxin from the venom of the Brazilian wasps.
"Anticancer therapies targeting lipid composition of cell membrane would generate an entirely new class of anticancer drugs," said Paul Beales, one of the study authors. "This discovery could be useful to develop a new combination therapies in which multiple drugs are used simultaneously to treat cancer by attacking different parts of cancer at the same time," he said.
Although Brazilian wasp venom use as a treatment option is an interesting possibility, it still remains only in theory.
The study authors believe that scientists will have to perform several additional studies before you can use this kind of venom in humans.
Source: Mediafax
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