Induction of Apoptosis in Human Leukemia Cell Line (HL60) by Animal’s Venom Derived Peptides (ICD-85)

Our previous studies revealed an inhibitory effect of icd-85 (venom derived peptides) on breast cancer cell line mda-mb231. icd-85 was also confirmed by in-vivo studies to suppress the breast tumor in mice. however, the exact mechanism of icd-85 was unknown. hence, the present study was undertaken to assess the mechanism of icd-85 effect as an anti-proliferative agent of cancer cells. the effect of icd-85 on proliferation of hl-60 cancer cells was determined by using the mtt assay. the morphological changes of icd-85 treated hl-60 cells were observed under transmission electron microscope (tem). dna fragmentation analysis was also carried out using gel electrophoresis. icd-85 induced marked inhibition of hl60 cell proliferation with an ic50 value of 0.04 µg/ml following 24 h incubation. icd-85 treated cells when compared with untreated cells, showed nuclear material condensation, endoplasmic reticulum dilation, mitochondria swelling or degradation, increased cytoplasmic vacuoles, reduction or disappearance in cytoplasmic process and decreased nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio was observed. the characteristic dna ladder formation of icd-85 treated cells in agarose gel electrophoresis confirmed the results obtained by electron microscopy. the results of the present study indicated that icd-85 inhibited the cancer cell proliferation by inducing cell apoptosis