12th International Conference of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Phoneutria nigriventer (PnV) spider venom is known to be composed of potent basic peptides, which exhibit stability and selectivity by biological targets, making them promising as a prototype drug in the pharmaceutical sciences. In this sense, it is believed that this venom can modulate dendritic cells (DCs), thus having a highly relevant role in pathogenic conditions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the immunomodulatory effect of PnV and its isolated toxins on the effector responses of DCs in vitro. For this, bone marrow precursors were collected from animals, differentiated in DCs and treated with venom or PnV-isolated toxins. Our results showed that the treatments modify the expression of activation-dependent surface markers in DCs, alter their morphology, as well as the production of cytokines such as TNF-α, inducing an activated profile. These results suggest that PnV-molecules may act as immunoadjuvant with possible application in cancer treatment.