Rinaldi Roberta, Laurino Simona, Salvia Rosanna, Russi Sabino, De Stefano Federica, Galasso Rocco, Sgambato Alessandro, Scieuzo Carmen, Falco Geppino, Falabella Patrizia
Department of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Basilicata, Via dell'Ateneo Lucano 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy.
Centro di Riferimento Oncologico della Basilicata IRCCS (IRCCS-CROB), 85028 Rionero in Vulture, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Feb 22;26(5):1885. doi: 10.3390/ijms26051885.
Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide, characterised by poor prognosis and limited responsiveness to chemotherapy. There is a need for new and more effective anticancer agents. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a promising class of biomolecules for this purpose. Naturally occurring in the innate immune system, these peptides can also exert cytotoxic effects against cancer cells, earning them the designation of "anticancer peptides" (ACPs). They have the potential to be a viable support for current chemotherapy schedules due to their selectivity against cancer cells and minor propensity to induce chemoresistance in cells. Insects are an excellent source of AMPs. Among them, due to its ability to thrive in hostile and microorganism-rich environments, we isolated a peptide fraction from L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae) haemolymph to evaluate a possible anticancer activity. We tested Peptide Fractions (PFs) against AGS and KATO III gastric cancer cell lines. Data obtained indicated that PFs, especially those resulting from and infection (to boost immune response), were able to inhibit tumour cell growth by inducing apoptosis or cell cycle arrest in a cell line-specific manner. These results support further investigation into the use of antimicrobial peptides produced from insects as possible anticancer agents.
胃癌(GC)是全球癌症相关死亡的主要原因之一,其特征是预后不良且对化疗反应有限。需要新型且更有效的抗癌药物。抗菌肽(AMPs)是一类有前景的生物分子,可用于此目的。这些肽天然存在于先天免疫系统中,也可对癌细胞发挥细胞毒性作用,因此被称为“抗癌肽”(ACPs)。由于它们对癌细胞具有选择性且在细胞中诱导化学抗性的倾向较小,因此有可能成为当前化疗方案的可行辅助手段。昆虫是抗菌肽的优质来源。其中,由于其在恶劣且富含微生物的环境中生存的能力,我们从L.(双翅目:水虻科)血淋巴中分离出一种肽组分,以评估其可能的抗癌活性。我们针对AGS和KATO III胃癌细胞系测试了肽组分(PFs)。获得的数据表明,肽组分,尤其是那些由感染(以增强免疫反应)产生的肽组分,能够通过以细胞系特异性方式诱导细胞凋亡或细胞周期停滞来抑制肿瘤细胞生长。这些结果支持进一步研究将昆虫产生的抗菌肽用作可能的抗癌药物。