Wasps naturally have a bad reputation amongst us humans, only deemed to be dangerous because of their stingers. Many people may think that wasps aren't useful to humans, unlike bees.
However, a recent study shows that they can actually be more helpful to us than bees. Apparently, the wasp's venom has shown to attack cancer cells, all while leaving the body's healthy cells alone.
The toxin found in the wasp's venom is called MP1 or Polybia-MP1, and it is still unknown how it only targets cancer cells.
According to IFL Science:
"According to new research, it exploits they atypical arrangement of fats, or lipids, in cancer cell membranes. Their abnormal distribution creates weak points where the toxin can interact with the lipids, which ultimately pokes gaping holes in the membrane. There are sufficiently large for essential molecules to start leaking out, like proteins, which the cell cannot function without."
The Polybia paulista specie of wasp is the one behind the production of this toxin. It has currently been tested on model membranes and has been examined using various imaging techniques.
Co-author of the study, Paul Beales from the University of Leeds, says that "Cancer therapies that attack the lipid composition of the cell membrane would be an entirely new class of anticancer drugs."
"This could be useful in developing new combination therapies, where multiple drugs are used simultaneously to treat a cancer by attacking different parts of the cancer cells at the same time," he added.
Another co-author of the study named Joao Ruggiero Neto from Sao Paolo State University explains:
"Formed in only seconds, these large pores are big enough to allow critical molecules such as RNA and proteins to easily escape cells. [...] The dramatic enhancement of the permeabilization incduced by the peptide in the presence of [the phospholipid] PE [or phosphatidylethanolamine] and the dimensions of the pores in these membranes was surprising."
To find out more about the team's research results, you can head on over to Biophysical Journal.
