Journal of Proteomics & Bioinformatics
Open Access
ISSN: 0974-276X
+44 1223 790975
ISSN: 0974-276X
+44 1223 790975
Amanda Campelo Lima de Melo
Posters: J Proteomics Bioinform
Available cancer therapies are highly toxic with severe side effects, and the discovery of new therapeutic strategies is encouraged. There has been a long-standing interest in the identification of plant- and bacterial-derived products for developing anticancer agents. A multienzyme mixture of exogenous proteinases (trypsin, chymotrypsin and papain), as well as bromelain (mixture of proteolytic enzymes from Ananas comosus, pineapple) and fastuosain (25 kDa cysteine protease purified from the fruits of Bromelia fastuosa) inhibited tumor growth in preclinical models. The antitumor activities of bacterial-derived proteases are less recognized. Arazyme is a metalloprotease isolated from Serratia proteamaculans, and studies in our laboratory showed that arazyme reduced the number of metastatic lung nodules in B16F10-Nex2 murine melanoma model, but did not affect primary tumor development. Arazyme cleaved CD44 in melanoma cells surface, induced melanoma MMP-8 cross-reacting antibodies and was a potent immunomodulator, activating antigen-presenting cells independently of its proteolytic activity. We evaluated the immunomodulatory effect of arazyme on 4T1 breast adenocarcinoma preclinical model. Female Balb/c mice were challenged with 4T1 cells and treated intraperitoneally with inactive arazyme. Inactived-arazyme treated group showed a delayed primary tumor growth, reduction in the number of metastatic pulmonary nodules and increased survival compared to untreated group. These results suggest that arazyme has a potent immunomodulatory effect on primary and metastatic 4T1 preclinical model.
Amanda Campelo Lima de Melo graduated in Biomedical Sciences at Federal University of Piaui in 2011. She is currently attending a Master of Science Program in Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology at the Federal University of S�o Paulo, Brazil. She works with experimental oncology with emphasis on cancer immunotherapy.