M Sri Balasubashini1, S Karthigayan2, ST Somasundaram2, T Balasubramanian2, R Rukkumani3, Venugopal P Menon1
1Department of Biochemistry, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, 608 002, India
2CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai, 608 502, India
3Department of Biochemistry, Center for Cell and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India
DOI: 10.1186/1477-3163-5-27
ABSTRACT
The present study is an attempt to evaluate the antiproliferative potential of peptide (7.6 kDa) from lionfish ( Pterios volitans ) venom on cultured HEp2 and HeLa cells. Different dose of purified peptide (1, 2 and 4 μg/ml) at different time points (12, 24 and 36 hrs) were tested for antiproliferative index of the peptide. Among them, 2 μg/ml at 24 hrs was found to effectively inhibit cancer cell growth in vitro and did not cause any adverse effect on normal human lymphocytes. Apoptosis was examined by propidium iodide staining, confirmed by the expression of caspase-8 and caspase-3, down regulation of Bcl-2 expression and DNA fragmentation in treated cells, when compared to untreated HEp2 and HeLa cells. Thus fish venom peptide was found to selectively induce apoptosis in cancer cell.