The anti‑hepatocellular carcinoma activity of Mel‑P15 is mediated by natural killer cells

  • Authors:
    • Tao Xu
    • Tongxing Cui
    • Lipan Peng
    • Shuai Kong
    • Jianqiang Zou
    • Xingsong Tian
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: September 21, 2017     https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.7018
  • Pages: 6901-6906
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Abstract

Mel‑P15 is a peptide derived from melittin, the main toxic component in the venom of the European honeybee Apis mellifera. In the present study, the antitumor effects of Mel‑P15 and the underlying molecular mechanisms of these effects in vivo were investigated. Mel‑P15 directly stimulated natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity in vitro, which was increased to 55.45% at a 4 µg/ml dose of Mel‑P15. In the mouse liver cancer (H22) xenograft mice model, Mel‑P15 suppressed tumor growth in vivo; the tumor inhibitory rate was 61.15% following treatment with 2 mg/kg Mel‑P15. In addition, the immune response was activated following Mel‑P15 treatment. Mel‑P15 treatment increased the spleen and thymus indices, promoted splenocyte proliferation, stimulated NK cytotoxicity and upregulated the secretion of cytokines, including interleukin‑2, interferon‑γ and tumor necrosis factor‑α. In addition, the tumor inhibitory effect of Mel‑P15 on BEL‑7402‑bearing nude mice was abrogated by the selective depletion of NK cells via the intraperitoneal injection of an anti‑asialo GM‑1 antibody. The results suggest that Mel‑P15 inhibits tumor growth in vivo by promoting NK cell cytotoxicity. Mel‑P15 may therefore be a potential immunotherapy candidate for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.
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December-2017
Volume 14 Issue 6

Print ISSN: 1792-1074
Online ISSN:1792-1082

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Spandidos Publications style
Xu T, Cui T, Peng L, Kong S, Zou J and Tian X: The anti‑hepatocellular carcinoma activity of Mel‑P15 is mediated by natural killer cells. Oncol Lett 14: 6901-6906, 2017
APA
Xu, T., Cui, T., Peng, L., Kong, S., Zou, J., & Tian, X. (2017). The anti‑hepatocellular carcinoma activity of Mel‑P15 is mediated by natural killer cells. Oncology Letters, 14, 6901-6906. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.7018
MLA
Xu, T., Cui, T., Peng, L., Kong, S., Zou, J., Tian, X."The anti‑hepatocellular carcinoma activity of Mel‑P15 is mediated by natural killer cells". Oncology Letters 14.6 (2017): 6901-6906.
Chicago
Xu, T., Cui, T., Peng, L., Kong, S., Zou, J., Tian, X."The anti‑hepatocellular carcinoma activity of Mel‑P15 is mediated by natural killer cells". Oncology Letters 14, no. 6 (2017): 6901-6906. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.7018