Montivipera bornmuelleri Venom: Inhibitory Effect on Staphylococcus epidermidis and Escherichia coli F1F0-ATPases and Cytotoxicity on HCT116 Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract

In this work, we pursued the biological characterization of the venom of Montivipera bornmuelleri, a viper from the Lebanese mountains. In relation to its antibacterial potential, the inhibitory effect of this venom on the F1F0-ATPase enzymes of Gram-positive Staphylocoocus epidermidis and Gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria was examined. In order to determine the degree of cytotoxicity of the venom on the HCT116 human colon cancer cell lines, the biological MTT proliferation and cell viability test were implemented. After validation of the enzymatic F1F0-ATPase model by the spectrophotometric method, using quercetin as the reference ligand, results revealed that M. bornmuelleri venom is able to inhibit the activity of the enzyme of these two bacteria with a concentration of the order of 100–150 µg/mL. In addition, a venom concentration of 10 µg/mL was sufficient to kill the totality of HCT116 cell lines cultivated in vitro. These data show that M. bornmuelleri venom is a mixture of diverse molecules presenting activities of interest, and is a potential source to explore in order to discover new drug candidates.

Inhibitors of ATP Synthase as New Antibacterial Candidates

“…The Montivipera bornmuelleri snake venom has also demonstrated an inhibitory effect due to two active components: PLA2 and L-amino-acid-oxidase (LAAO). This venom was able to inhibit the ATP synthase of Gram-positive Staphylococcus epidermidis and Gram-negative E.coli with a concentration of the order of 100–150 µg/mL, offering a clear advantage: it can target a wide spectrum of bacteria [ 81 ]. On the other hand, many venom peptides have been studied, such as anoplin, cupiennin 1a, latarcin 1, latarcin 3a, latarcin 5, and pandinin 2, and have revealed an inhibitory capacity by targeting the βDELSEED-motif of ATP synthase [ 79 ].…”