A toxin present in the venom of the Brazilian wasp Polybia paulista is thought to be able to destroy cancer cells without attacking healthy cells. This is the discovery that researchers from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil have just made and published in the scientific journal Biophysical journal.
The sting of this wasp found in Southeastern Brazil is widely regarded as unwanted. But scientists found it to contain a toxin (MP1) that interacts with fat molecules that are abnormally distributed on the surface of cancer cells, creating gaping holes that destroy cancer cells in the bladder and prostate. So that healthy tissue manages to avoid the attack of this toxin.
According to the authors of the study, this mechanism could help set up a new form of chemotherapy capable of correctly targeting the cells to be destroyed. Researchers could use the venom of the wasp Polybia paulista to more easily deliver a drug directly to the heart of diseased cells, by carving a passage there.
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