Cytotoxicity of polybia paulista wasp crude venom on the tumor cell lines HeLa, HRT-18, jurkat, and K562

Abstract

The social wasp Polybia paulista is an animal that produces venom for defense, which has been the subject of numerous studies in recent decades. Despite the great scientific interest, its pharmacological and biotechnological potential is still unknown. In this study, the antitumor capacity of the crude venom of P. paulista was investigated through cytotoxicity assays on the cell lines HeLa, HRT-18, Jurkat, and K562. Based on the cytotoxicity assays performed after 24 hours of treatment, the results showed that the crude venom was able to significantly reduce cell proliferation and induce cell death in the K562, HRT-18, and Jurkat cell lines. Morphological and cell cycle analyses in the Jurkat cell line revealed evidence of chromatin fragmentation and the presence of early and late apoptotic cells. It can be concluded that the crude venom of the social wasp P. paulista is cytotoxic to the tumor cell lines K562 (chronic myeloid leukemia), Jurkat (acute lymphocytic leukemia), and HRT-18 (intestinal carcinoma). The obtained results report the cytotoxic effects of the venom of the wasp P. paulista and demonstrate the importance of prospecting this venom, which is still poorly investigated.