Buzz Killer

Wasp stings are the stuff of nightmares; however, researchers have found they also have a potential benefit. A molecule in the venom of the wasp Polybia paulista, native to South America, targets and destroys human cancer cells. The cancer-targeting molecule – MP1 – takes advantage of the abnormal arrangement of phospholipids in the membranes of cancerous cells. In healthy cells, the phospholipids PS and PE are found on the inner layer of the cell membrane but, in cancerous cells, they aggregate in the outer layer – represented here as bright fluorescence spots in these lab-created membranes – creating weak points. MP1 interacts with PS and PE, forming holes in the cell membrane where essential proteins leak out, killing the cell. This novel interaction is a first for anti-cancer drugs, and could be effective when used as a combination therapy with other drugs.

Written by Katie Panteli

Katie Panteli

Writer

Katie, a Warwick Biomed graduate, works for a science-publishing house in London with some of the world's most respected scientific minds. She's most interested in human biology, anything and everything that makes us tick.

• Image adapted from work by Natália Bueno Leite and colleagues
• Department of Physics, São Paulo State University, Brazil and School of Chemistry and Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, UK
• Originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in Biophysical Journal, September 2015