Apoptotic Effects of Mount Bulgar Viper (Montivipera bulgardaghica) PLA2 and SVMPs Venom Peptide fractions on HeLa and A549 Cancer Cells ^†

Abstract

Snake venoms are extremely important for alternative medicine applications and discovery of new bioactive molecules. Especially in the recent years, there are promising studies in the literature on the development of new therapies for targeting the cancer with the use of snake venom peptides. In the present study, PLA2 and SVMPs venom peptide fractions of M. bulgardaghica were investigated for their apoptotic effects on human cervix adenocarcinoma cell line, HeLa and human lung adenocarcinoma cell line, A549. The cytotoxicity of crude venom was assessed by MTT assay with IC50 values of 4.34 ± 0.19 and 2.60 ± 0.18 µg/mL against HeLa and A549 cells, respectively. Following treatment, the cells with fractions for 48 h, the percentage of apoptotic cells was quantified by Annexin V/PI double staining assay and analyzed with flow cytometry. Our results show that, M. bulgardaghica venom fractions weren’t significantly triggered apoptotic effect on cells but affected the cell cycle in PI staining experiments. As a result, snake venom peptides might have potential use in the treatment of cancer with new drug targeting techniques.