ArticleTumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine2014
Melittin enhances radiosensitivity of hypoxic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by suppressing HIF-1α.
Article in Tumour biology : the journal of the International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Expression of HIF-2α and VEGF in Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Its Clinical Significance.BioMed research international · 2016Trial
- Melittin Acts as a Radiosensitizer for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer by Inhibiting the DNA Damage Repair System and Inducing Apoptosis.Yonsei medical journal · 2026Article
- Melittin-Based Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy: Mechanisms, Applications, and Future Perspectives.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- A Novel Chitin-Based Purification System Using GAL1 Fusion Tags: Enhancing Recombinant Protein Production While Retaining Biological Activity.Microbial biotechnology · 2025Article
- Strategies to Overcome Intrinsic and Acquired Resistance to Chemoradiotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer.Cells · 2024Review
- Therapeutic Potential and Mechanisms of Bee Venom Therapy: A Comprehensive Review of Apitoxin Applications and Safety Enhancement Strategies.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- An Updated Review Summarizing the Anticancer Efficacy of Melittin from Bee Venom in Several Models of Human Cancers.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Africanized Bee Venom (Toxics · 2022Article
- Applications and evolution of melittin, the quintessential membrane active peptide.Biochemical pharmacology · 2021Review
- Hypoxia-Induced Cancer Cell Responses Driving Radioresistance of Hypoxic Tumors: Approaches to Targeting and Radiosensitizing.Cancers · 2021Review
- Bee Venom: An Updating Review of Its Bioactive Molecules and Its Health Applications.Nutrients · 2020Review
- Radiation Therapy Reduced Blood Levels of LDH, HIF-1α, and miR-210 in OSCC.Pathology oncology research : POR · 2020Article
- Constitutive or Induced HIF-2 Addiction is Involved in Resistance to Anti-EGFR Treatment and Radiation Therapy in HNSCC.Cancers · 2019Article
- Effects of thalidomide on growth and VEGF-A expression in SW480 colon cancer cells.Oncology letters · 2018Article
- Expression and significance of the Hedgehog signal transduction pathway in oxygen-induced retinal neovascularization in mice.Drug design, development and therapy · 2018Article
- Establishment of oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line and magnetic bead-based isolation and characterization of its CD90/CD44 subpopulations.Oncotarget · 2017Article
- Melittin, a major peptide component of bee venom, and its conjugates in cancer therapy.Cancer letters · 2017Review
- Review
- Role of Bee Venom and Melittin on Restraining Angiogenesis and Metastasis in γ-Irradiated Solid Ehrlich Carcinoma-Bearing Mice.Integrative cancer therapiesArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Hypoxia is a widespread phenomenon present in many human solid tumors and is associated with a poor prognosis and therapy resistance. Here, we tested the feasibility of melittin, a major component of bee venom, on radiosensitization of hypoxic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). CNE-2 and KB cells were treated with melittin and radiation response was determined. Cell viability, cytotoxicity and apoptosis induction were examined by CCK-8 assay, colony formation assay, and flow cytometry. Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) proteins were assessed using western blotting. Additionally, we also examined the effect of melittin on tumor growth and radiosensitivity in vivo using a xenograft model of HNSCC. Treatment with melittin resulted in cell growth inhibition, induction of cell apoptosis, and reduction of HIF-1α and VEGF expression, which has been linked to hypoxia cell radioresistance. In addition, intraperitoneal injection of melittin significantly reduced the growth of HNSCC tumors in CNE-2 tumor-bearing mice. These data suggest that melittin enhances radiosensitivity of HNSCC under hypoxia condition, and this is associated with the suppression of HIF-1α expression. Melittin appears to be a potential radiotherapy sensitization agent due to its significant antihypoxia activity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.