Pro-apoptotic effects of amblyomin-X in murine renal cell carcinoma 'in-vitro'

Abstract

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most lethal urologic cancers and is highly resistant to both radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The recombinant protein Amblyomin-X, characterized as a Kunitz-type protease inhibitor, was obtained from a cDNA library from the salivary glands of the Amblyomma cajennense tick. This paper reports the biological effect of Amblyomin-X on inducing cell death by apoptotic process in vitro. For this purpose, the changes in morphological aspects of cells, the phosphatidylserine exposition and DNA degradation were evaluated after treatment with Amblyomin- X. We found that Amblyomin-X was able to induce apoptosis in Renca cells in a dose-dependent manner. So, the results presented here open perspectives for new researches and developing for Amblyomin-X in the treatment of RCC.