title: A fatal effect of hornet venom on rat-brain cortical neurons.
abstract: In a previous study, it was shown that the hornet venom or, more specifically, its venom sac extract (VSE) possesses deoxyribonuclease activity that exerts an effect both on insects as well as on mammals. We have now examined the effect of hornet VSE on primary culture of rat cortical neurons. Judging on the basis of our results, VSE induces a rapid cell death by a) permeabilizing the cell membrane, b) inducing DNA breaks, and c) cleaving the nuclear protein poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP-1), thereby preventing DNA repair.
authors.affiliation: The Neufeld Cardiac Research Institute, Shiba Hospital, The Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: Malka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cohen-Armon
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Visochek
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Priel
authors.forename: Jacob S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Ishay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D053960:DNA Breaks; D005260:Female; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071137:Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014862:Wasp Venoms / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014862:Wasp Venoms; C499322:Parp1 protein, rat; D000071137:Poly (ADP-Ribose) Polymerase-1; D011065:Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerases