The Influence of Bee Venom Melittin on the Functioning of the Immune System and the Contractile Activity of the Insect Heart-A Preliminary Study

Melittin (MEL) is a basic polypeptide originally purified from honeybee venom. MEL exhibits a broad spectrum of biological activity. However, almost all studies on MEL activity have been carried out on vertebrate models or cell lines. Recently, due to cheap breeding and the possibility of extrapolat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Toxins 2019-08, Vol.11 (9), p.494
Main Authors: Lubawy, Jan, Urbański, Arkadiusz, Mrówczyńska, Lucyna, Matuszewska, Eliza, Światły-Błaszkiewicz, Agata, Matysiak, Jan, Rosiński, Grzegorz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antimicrobial agents
Apoptosis
Beetles
Bioassays
Biological activity
Cell culture
Cell lines
Communication
Heart
heart contractility
Heart rate
Hemocytes
Hemolymph
Immune system
Injection
insect immune system
Insects
Invertebrates
Kinases
Lipids
melittin
Membranes
Morphology
Muscle contraction
Permeability
Phagocytes
Phenoloxidase
Physiology
Polypeptides
Proteins
Tenebrio molitor
Venom
Vertebrates
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Summary:Melittin (MEL) is a basic polypeptide originally purified from honeybee venom. MEL exhibits a broad spectrum of biological activity. However, almost all studies on MEL activity have been carried out on vertebrate models or cell lines. Recently, due to cheap breeding and the possibility of extrapolating the results of the research to vertebrates, insects have been used for various bioassays and comparative physiological studies. For these reasons, it is valuable to examine the influence of melittin on insect physiology. Here, for the first time, we report the immunotropic and cardiotropic effects of melittin on the beetle as a model insect. After melittin injection at 10 M and 10 M, the number of apoptotic cells in the haemolymph increased in a dose-dependent manner. The pro-apoptotic action of MEL was likely compensated by increasing the total number of haemocytes. However, the injection of MEL did not cause any changes in the percent of phagocytic haemocytes or in the phenoloxidase activity. In an in vitro bioassay with a semi-isolated heart, MEL induced a slight chronotropic-positive effect only at a higher concentration (10 M). Preliminary results indicated that melittin exerts pleiotropic effects on the functioning of the immune system and the endogenous contractile activity of the heart. Some of the induced responses in resemble the reactions observed in vertebrate models. Therefore, the beetle may be a convenient invertebrate model organism for comparative physiological studies and for the identification of new properties and mechanisms of action of melittin and related compounds.
ISSN:2072-6651
2072-6651
DOI:10.3390/toxins11090494