Resistance of cervical adenocarcinoma cells (HeLa) to venom from the scorpion Centruroides limpidus limpidus

• Published in: Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases
• Main Authors: José María Eloy Contreras-Ortiz, Juan Carlos Vázquez-Chagoyán, José Simón Martínez-Castañeda, José Guillermo Estrada-Franco, José Esteban Aparicio-Burgos, Jorge Acosta-Dibarrat, Alberto Barbabosa-Pliego
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SciELO 2013
• Subjects: Scorpion venoms; Cytotoxic tests; Apoptosis; HeLa cells; Anticancer agents; Centruroides toxins; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Toxicology. Poisons; RA1190-1270; Zoology; QL1-991; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/1678-9199-19-20; https://doaj.org/article/4192c1a957c747b28c3ad26f55b67901

Background : The venom of Centruroides limpidus limpidus (Cll) is a mixture of pharmacologically active principles. The most important of these are toxic proteins that interact both selectively and specifically with different cellular targets such as ion channels. Recently, anticancer properties of the venom from other scorpion species have been described. Studies in vitro have shown that scorpion venom induces cell death, inhibits proliferation and triggers the apoptotic pathway in different cancer cell lines. Herein, after treating human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cells with Cll crude venom, their cytotoxic activity and apoptosis induction were assessed. Results : Cll crude venom induced cell death in normal macrophages in a dose-dependent manner. However, through viability assays, HeLa cells showed high survival rates after exposure to Cll venom. Also, Cll venom did not induce apoptosis after performing ethidium bromide/acridine orange assays, nor was there any evidence of chromatin condensation or DNA fragmentation. Conclusions : Crude Cll venom exposure was not detrimental to HeLa cell cultures. This may be partially attributable to the absence of specific HeLa cell membrane targets for molecules present in the venom of Centruroides limpidus limpidus. Although these results might discourage additional studies exploring the potential of Cll venom to treat human papilloma cervical cancer, further research is required to explore positive effects of crude Cll venom on other cancer cell lines.