Can wasp venom be
good for you?
Wasps get their fair share of bad press. They
have a painful sting and they are not as useful
(or cute) to us as bees. However, their
time to step in to the spotlight
may be just around the
corner. It has been revealed
that a variety of wasp native to Brazil
has venom that could fight cancer.
Scientists at the University of Brazil claim
that the experimental therapy latches on
to tumour cells and makes them leak vital
molecules. The trial was carried out on
mice and more studies are required to
check that the method would work safely
in humans.
Ancient texts show doctors have used
venom to treat ailments for years. In
14 BC, the Greek writer Pliny the Elder
described the use of bee venom as a cure
for baldness. Doctors used beestings to
treat the Emperor Charlemagne’s gout in
the 700s. Traditional Chinese medicine
has used frog venom to fight liver, lung,
colon and pancreatic cancers. Alternative
doctors in Cuba have used scorpion
venom to fight brain tumours.
The general problem with injecting
someone with venom is that there can
be harmful side effects which outweigh
the potential benefits. Bee stings, for
example, hurt and become inflamed
because melittin, the main toxin in a bee’s
venom, destroys cell membranes. It can
also cause blood to clot, damage the
heart muscle and hurt healthy nerve cells.
The species of wasp used in the study
is called the Polybia Paulist. It is an
aggressive social wasp found in southeast Brazil. The wasp’s venom contains
an important toxin called MP1 which
the insect uses to attack prey or defend
itself. The antimicrobial peptide also
showed promise for protecting humans
from cancer as it can inhibit the growth of
prostate and bladder cancer cells, as well
as multi-drug resistant leukaemic cells.
However, until now, it was not clear how
MP1 selectively destroys cancer cells
without harming normal cells.
The researchers at Sao Paulo State
University, Brazil, suspected that the
reason might have something to do
with the unique properties of cancer
cell membranes. MP1 interacts with fat
molecules that are abnormally distributed
on the surface of cancer cells, creating
gaping holes that allow molecules crucial
for cell function to leak out. Formed in
only seconds, these large pores are big
enough to allow critical molecules such as
RNA and proteins to easily escape cells
and when that happens, the cell dies.
In healthy cells the same molecules are
hidden on the inside of the cells. In theory,
this means that healthy cells should avoid
an attack by MP1. Co-researcher Dr Paul
Beales, from University of Leeds, said
“This could be useful in developing new
combination therapies, where multiple
drugs are used simultaneously to treat a
cancer by attacking different parts of the
cancer cells at the same time”.
In a similar study scientists in
Queensland, Australia have been
analysing deadly box jellyfish venom
for the first time. Dr Mulvenna said the
detailed chemical analysis of the box
jellyfish venom, undertaken over about
12 months, found it was made up of
about 200 proteins. A box jellyfish toxins
act rapidly. Major stings are capable of
causing a person’s heart to stop within a
few minutes. Most of the venom is found
in the tentacles of the jellyfish, which can
be up to 3m long.
The Queensland researchers discovered
a new family of toxins in the venom of
the world’s largest and deadliest box
jellyfish, the Chironex Fleckeri, found in
the Australian tropics. Biochemist Jason
Mulvenna, of the QIMR Berghofer Medical
Research Institute, said the analysis
would lead to more studies into whether
any of the toxins could be developed
into new cancer drugs. “We’ve got a lot
of cancer cell lines that we test various
toxins against to see if they can be used
as anti-cancer agents,” Dr Mulvenna said.
With an estimated 1000 people a day
being diagnosed with cancer in the UK
by the end of 2016 news of this potential
new treatment is very encouraging.
By Annika Mason
19