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An Anti-Cancer Peptide LVTX-8 Inhibits the Proliferation and Migration of Lung Tumor Cells by Regulating Causal Genes’ Expression in p53-Related Pathways

Authors :
Peng Zhang
Yujie Yan
Junting Wang
Xiaoping Dong
Gaihua Zhang
Yong Zeng
Zhonghua Liu
Source :
Toxins, Vol 12, Iss 6, p 367 (2020)
Publication Year :
2020
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2020.

Abstract

Spider venom has been found to show its anticancer activity in a variety of human malignancies, including lung cancer. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer peptide toxin LVTX-8, with linear amphipathic alpha-helical conformation, designed and synthesized from the cDNA library of spider Lycosa vittata. Multiple cellular methods, such as CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry, colony formation assay, Transwell invasion and migration assay, were performed to detect peptide-induced cell growth inhibition and anti-metastasis in lung cancer cells. Our results demonstrated that LVTX-8 displayed strong cytotoxicity and anti-metastasis towards lung cancer in vitro. Furthermore, LVTX-8 could suppress the growth and metastasis of lung cancer cells (A549 and H460) in nude mouse models. Transcriptomics, integrated with multiple bioinformatics analysis, suggested that the molecular basis of the LVTX-8-mediated inhibition of cancer cell growth and metastasis manifested in two aspects: Firstly, it could restrain the activity of cancer cell division and migration through the functional pathways, including “p53 hypoxia pathway” and “integrin signaling”. Secondly, it could regulate the expression level of apoptotic-related proteins, which may account for programmed apoptosis of cancer cells. Taken together, as an anticancer peptide with high efficiency and acceptable specificity, LVTX-8 may become a potential precursor of a therapeutic agent for lung cancer in the future.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20726651
Volume :
12
Issue :
6
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Toxins
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.9611ab5ad8cc491b88903dc9395b0c43
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12060367