posted by Sondra Broomell
Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women worldwide. An article published on the BBC News website details the early stages of research findings pointing to melittin, a compound found in honeybee venom, being an effective treatment. Venom from over 300 species of honeybees and bumblebees was tested against triple negative and HER2-enriched cancer cells. Both cancers are aggressive and difficult to treat.
The study, led by Ciara Duffy at Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Western Australia, showed melittin to be effective at killing cancer cells within an hour while causing little damage to neighboring cells. The toxicity, however, does increase at higher doses. Further investigation determined that melittin works by inhibiting the growth of the cancer cells by interfering “with signaling pathways within breast cancer cells to reduce replication,” according to Professor Peter Klinken.
Researchers are excited about their preliminary findings and point out that this an excellent example of using compounds found in nature to treat human diseases. However, there are thousands of compounds that kill cancer in laboratory settings but few that can be used for actual human treatment. Melittin is a small peptide (see below) and can be synthetically produced but researchers stress that they are in the early stages of this study and there is much more testing needed before melittin can be used in a clinical setting.
Melittin structure
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