title: Montivipera bornmuelleri venom selectively exhibits high cytotoxic effects on keratinocytes cancer cell lines.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Viperidae family venom is a rich source of bioactive compounds such as many proteases, which cause tissue necrosis and affect mostly the vascular system. However, the venom exhibits therapeutic potentials and has contributed to the development of some medical drugs. Specifically, the Montivipera bornmuelleri venom has shown to exhibit antibacterial, pro-inflammatory and antifungal activities.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This work evaluates the cytotoxic effect of the M. bornmuelleri venom on human-derived keratinocytes including the non-tumorigenic HaCaT, the benign A5 and the low-grade malignant II4 cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  The toxicity of different venom concentrations (0.9, 1.87, 3.75, 7.5, 15, 30 and 60μg/mL) and their effect on the viability of the cells lines were assessed using the Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and the Trypan blue tests after 24h of incubation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The venom was able to reduce the viability of all cell lines in a dose dependent manner with the HaCat cells being the least affected. For example, the 60μg/mL dose induced a more significant decrease the viability of A5 (44%) and II4 (21.33%) keratinocytes as compared to HaCaT cells (70.63%). Also, this venom showed a higher cytotoxic activity on the A5 (52.45%) and II4 (98.67%) cells as compared to HaCaT cells (30.14%) with an IC50estimated at 10μg/mL on II4 and at 60μg/mL on benign A5.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Those differential cytotoxic effects of the M. bornmuelleri venom pave the road for more advanced studies which might unravel the potential anticancer effects of this venom.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Balamand, Kourah, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Saly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sawan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Balamand, Kourah, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yaacoub
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences II (Fanar), Lebanese University, B.P. 90656 Jdeidet El Maten, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Souad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hraoui-Bloquet
authors.affiliation: American University, Department of Marine Sciences, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Riyad
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sadek
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sciences, USEK, Kaslik-Jounieh, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Walid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hleihel
authors.affiliation: Azm Center for Research in Biotechnology and its Applications, Doctoral School of Sciences and Technology, Tripoli, Lebanon; Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Section III, Lebanese University, El Kobeh, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Ziad
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fajloun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Balamand, Kourah, Lebanon. Electronic address: marckaram1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karam
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000187:drug effects*; D014757:Viper Venoms / Q000633:toxicity*; D017819:Viperidae
chemical_list: D014757:Viper Venoms
keywords: A5 cells; Cytotoxicity; HaCaT cells; II4 cells