BackgroundPhospholipase A2 (PLA2) is a major component of the Daboia siamensis venom, which is able to hydrolyse the membrane of various cells. For this reason, the activity of PLA2 was investigated regarding its pharmaceutical properties. This study was conducted to explore the pharmacological properties of a PLA2 from Daboia siamensis (dssPLA2) venom on human skin melanoma cell line (SK-MEL-28).MethodsdssPLA2 was isolated by ion exchange and gel filtration columns. Various concentrations of dssPLA2 were investigated for cytotoxic activity and inhibition of migration on SK-MEL-28 cells. Cell death analysis, mRNA expression levels of Notch I-III and BRAF V600E genes were also determined.ResultsdssPLA2 exhibited cytotoxicity on SK-MEL-28 for 24 and 72 h as compared with untreated cells. However, it had no toxic effects on CCD-1064sk cells under the same conditions. dssPLA2 (0.25 and 0.5 μg/mL) induced 17.16 and 30.60 % of apoptosis, while activated 6.53 and 7.05 % of necrotic cells. dssPLA2 at 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 μg/mL could inhibit migration on SK-MEL-28 cells for 24 h by 31.06, 41.66, 50 and 68.75 %, respectively. The action of dssPLA2 significantly reduced the levels of Notch I and BRAF V600E genes expression on SK-MEL-28 cells compared with untreated cells at 72 h.ConclusionsThis study indicates that dssPLA2 had potential effects of apoptosis, necrosis, cytotoxicity and inhibition of migration on SK-MEL-28 cells. dssPLA2 could possibly be a selective agent that targets cancer cells without affecting normal cells.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40409-016-0061-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Characterization and quantification of cytokine production is essential for understanding the immune response. A SYBR Green real-time quantification Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to measure mRNA expression levels of the most common cytokines in horses after cobra snake venom stimulated Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC) carried out by in vitro method. The PBMC from horse was stimulated with cobra snake venom (10 μg mLG 1) prior to incubate at 3, 6, 24 and 48 h. Cytokine mRNA expression level, IL-1β, IL-10, IFNγ and TNFα, were measured using SYBR Green real-time RT-PCR. The highest mRNA expression of IL-1β and IL-10 were demonstrated at 3 h after stimulation of cobra snake venom. The levels of IL-1β and IL-10 expression were 0.7 and 2.3 folds. Meanwhile, the mRNA expression of IFNγ and TNFα were peaked at 6 and 24 h with appreciable increment of 13 and 5.4 folds, respectively. However, the mRNA expression of these cytokines was decreased after 24 h. It seems likely that cobra snake venom could stimulate more mRNA expression of IFNγ than IL-1β, IL-10 and TNFα in PBMC of horse. Secretion of IFNγ is likely to be important in early host defense against pro-inflammation and tissue injury from cobra snake venom. Thus, the study of mRNA expression of inflammatory cytokine profiles in this model could provide information useful for understanding the immunopathological mechanism of inflammation from snake venom immunization in horses and led to improve the design and manufacture of snake anitvenom.