The cytotoxicity of a cobra venom phospholipase to mouse lymphoma cells

P. Lazarovici, J. Hochman, M. Menashe, N. Primor, E. Zlotkin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

A series of phospholipases were compared as to their ability to disrupt variants of S-49 mouse lymphoma cells. The basic, type-A2-phospholipase (named P3-Menashe et al. 1980) derived from the venom of the cobra snake Naja mossambica mossambica has demonstrated unique cytolytic properties in the following aspects: (1) While being devoid of any direct hemolytic activity and demonstrating very low cytotoxicity to normal mouse lymphocytes, P3 has induced a potent lytic action on S-49 cells and several mutants derived from them. (2) When P3 was compared to a cytolytic cardiotoxin derived from the same venom it was found to possess higher cytotoxicity. (3) The ability of P3 to disrupt S-49 cells could not be reproduced by lysophosphatidylcholine - a common and strongly hemolytic product of phospholipase A2 enzymatic action. (4) The possible relation between the high susceptibility of lymphoma cells to the lytic action of P3 and their unique composition and/or arrangement of membranal phospholipids is discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)167-173
Number of pages7
JournalArchives of Toxicology
Volume51
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1982

Keywords

  • Cobra venom
  • Cytotoxicity
  • Mouse lymphoma
  • Phospholipase A

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