Objective

Animal venom contains a complex mixture of proteins, peptides, enzymes and small molecules. In addition to their negative effects on human health, components from venoms have been utilised as treatments for conditions such as hypertension, angina and even cancer. This research investigates potential use of cobra venom as a treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Resazurin, a blue weakly fluorescent redox dye was used as an indicator of cell viability. Conversion of resazurin to resorufin, a pink, highly fluorescent dye is proportional to cell viability and may be seen visually or measured through changes in fluorescence values. A panel of 19 cobra venoms were screened against MIA PaCa-2 and BxPC-3 pancreatic cancer cell lines at different venom concentrations in order to identify potentially toxic venoms. Following venom exposure, fluorescence values were measured, allowing assessment of cell viability. Venoms from five phylogenetically and geographically related cobras were identified to have selective toxic activity at low concentration against MIA PaCa-2 cells. These five venoms were fractionated using RP-HPLC to separate out the venom components and the fractions were screened for activity. The identified active fractions were further fractionated using size exclusion chromatography in order to identify the single entities responsible for cell toxicity.