| Since the current treatments have not resulted in the desired outcomes for melanoma
patients, there is a need to identify more effective medications. Together with other snake
venom proteins, cytotoxin-II has shown promising results in tumoral cells. In this study,
recombinant cytotoxin-II (rCTII) was expressed in SHufflefi T7 Express cells, while the epitope
mapping of rCTII was performed to reveal the antibody-binding regions of rCTII. The MTT
(3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was used to assess the viability
of SK-MEL-3 and HFF-2 cells after treating these cells with rCTII. The qRT-PCR was performed to
evaluate the expression levels of matrix metallopeptidase 3 (MMP-3), SMAD2, SMAD3, caspase-8,
caspase-9, and miR-214 in order to reveal the rCTII-induced signaling pathways in melanoma.
Our results have shown that two regions of amino acids, 6–16 and 19–44, as predicted epitopes of
this toxin, are essential for understanding the toxicity of rCTII. Treating the melanoma cells with
rCTII substantially inhibited the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)–SMAD signaling pathway
and down-regulated the expression of MMP-3 and miR-214 as well. This cytotoxin also restored
apoptosis mainly via the intrinsic pathway. The down-regulation of MMP-3 and miR-214 might be
associated with the anti-metastatic property of rCTII in melanoma. The inhibitory effect of rCTII on
the TGF-β signaling pathway might be associated with increased apoptosis and decreased cancer cell
proliferation. It is interesting to see that the IC50 value of rCTII has been lower in the melanoma cells
than non-tumoral cells, which may indicate its potential effects as a drug. In conclusion, rCTII, as a
novel medication, might serve as a potent and efficient anticancer drug in melanoma. |