Hemocyanins are oxygen-transporting glycoproteins in the hemolymph of arthropods and mollusks that attract scientific interest with their diverse biological activities and potential applications in pharmacy and medicine. The aim of the present study was to assess the in vitro antitumor activity of hemocyanins isolated from marine snail Rapana venosa (RvH) and garden snails Helix lucorum (HlH) and Helix aspersa (HaH), as well the mucus of H. aspersa snails, in the HT-29 human colorectal carcinoma cell line. The effects of the hemocyanins on the cell viability and proliferation were analyzed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and the alterations in the tumor cell morphology were examined by fluorescent and transmission electron microscopy. The results of the MTT assay showed that the mucus and α-subunit of hemocyanin from the snail H. aspersa had the most significant antiproliferative activity of the tested samples. Cytomorphological analysis revealed that the observed antitumor effects were associated with induction of apoptosis in the tumor cells. The presented data indicate that hemocyanins and mucus from H. aspersa have an antineoplastic activity and potential for development of novel therapeutics for treatment of colorectal carcinoma.

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Comparative electrophoretical studies on protein extracts from six Trichinella isolates have been carried out with the purpose of obtaining novel data about their species characterization. The methods of isofocusing and silver staining have been used. The electrophoretical analysis of the water-soluble proteins of the six isolates: ISS03, ISS13, ISS10, ISS02, ISS029, ISS035, has yielded as a result a heterogeneity both of number and electrophoretical mobility of the individual protein fractions. On the basis of the obtained results as well as on the data from studies of other authors [ 1-3 ] the six isolates under study have been established to belong to the species T. spiralis, T. pseudospiralis, T. nativa, T. britovi, T. nelsoni, T. murrelli.