Could Wasp Stings Help Fight Cancer?

The venom from a Brazilian wasp contains a powerful cancer-fighting ingredient that kills cancer cells without harming normal cells.

17:52 02 September 2015

A wasp’s sting could finally be the answer to end our war against cancer. The venom is produced by a Brazilian wasp as protection against predators. It is believed to contain a powerful-fighting ingredient that kills cancer cells without harming the healthy ones.

 

Dr Paul Beales of the University of Leeds said: “Cancer therapies that attack the lipid composition of the cell membrane would be an entirely new class of anticancer drugs.

“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.”

 

The toxin, called MP1 Polybia-MP1 interacts with lipids that are abnormally distributed on the surface of cancer cells. It works be disrupting the bacterial cell membrane. Research shows that it can also inhibit the growth of prostate and bladder cancer cells, as well as multi-drug resistant leukemic cells.

 

Professor Jo o Ruggiero Neto of San Paulo State University, Brazil, said: “Formed in only seconds, these large pores are big enough to allow critical molecules such as RNA and proteins to easily escape cells.

 

“The dramatic enhancement of the permeabilization induced by the peptide in the presence of PE and the dimensions of the pores in these membranes was surprising.