Table 1.

Insect antimicrobial peptides with activity against cancer cells

ACP	Origin	Sequence	Cancer cell type	Anticancer mechanism	Hemolytic activity	Reference
HaA4	Harmonia axyridis	IGGYCSWLRL	U937 and Jurkat	Necrosis and caspase-dependent apoptosis	No	Kim et al. (2013))
D-peptide B	Synthetic peptide	RLRLRIGRR	P3-X63-Ag8.65	Depolarization, membrane disruption	3 % at 640 μM	Iwasaki et al. (2009))
CopA3	Copris tripartitus	LLCIALRKK	Human gastric cancer cells	Apoptosis and necrosis	ND	Lee et al. (2015))
			Human leukemia cells	Caspase-independent, AIF-mediated apoptosis	ND	Kang et al. (2012))
Lasioglossins (LL-III/1)	Macropis fulvipes Macropis fulvipes Macropis fulvipes Macropis fulvipes	VNWKKILAKIIKVVK	Hela S3, CEM, HUVEC, IEC, and SW	Permeabilization of the cell membrane	No	Slaninova et al. (2012))
Halictines (HAL-1/18)		GMWSKILKHLIR	HeLa S3 and CEM
Macropin 1		GFKMALKLLKKVL	Hela S3 and CEM
Macropin 2		GTGLPMSERRKIMLMMR	CEM
Alloferon 1	Calliphora vicina	HGVSGHGQHGVHG	P388	Stimulation of NK cell activity and IFN synthesis	ND	Chernysh et al. (2002))
Alloferon 2		GVSGHGQHGVHG
Melittin	Apis mellifera	GIGAVLKVLTTGLPALISWIKRKRQQG	Human hepatocellular carcinoma	Influx of Ca2+/carpet mechanism/toroidal pore	ND	Tosteson et al. (1985); Wang et al. (2009))
				Suppression of cathepsin S activation, components of the VEGF, MAPK1, and ERK		Zhang et al. (2016))
Cecropin A	Hyalophora cecropia	KWKLFKKIEKVGQNIRDGIIKAGPAVAVVGQATQIAK	HL-60	Caspase-independent, ROS-mediated apoptosis	ND	Ceron et al. (2010))
Cecropin B	Antheraea pernyi	KWKIFKKIEKVGRNIRNGIIKAGPAVAVLGEAKAL	LS-174T	ND	ND	Zhang et al. (2003))
Cecropin	Musca domestica	GWLKKIGKKIERVGQHTRDATIQTIGVAQQAANVAATLK	BEL-7402	Apoptosis-inducing properties	ND	Jin et al. (2010))
Cecropin XJ	Bombyx mori	RWKIFKKIEKMGRNIRDGIVKAGPAIEVLGSAKAIGK	HeLa, Hep2, BGC823	Concentration-dependent manner, cytoskeleton disruption, disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential	No	Xia et al. (2013), 2016); Wu et al. (2015))
Mastoparan	Vespula lewisii	INLKALAALAKKIL	B16F10-Nex2 melanoma cells	Mitochondrial apoptosis pathway	ND	de Azevedo et al. (2015))
Halictine 1	Halictus sexcinctus	GMWSKILGHLIR	Potency to kill several cancer cells (author’s unpublished results).	ND	No	Monincova et al. (2010))
Lasioglossin LL-I	Lasioglossum laticeps	VNWKKVLGKIIKVAK	PC12	ND	LC50 >200	Čeřovský et al. (2009))
Lasioglossin LL-II		VNWKKILGKIIKVAK
Lasioglossin LL-III		VNWKKILGKIIKVVK	L1210, CCRF-CEM T, HL-60, HeLa S3, PC12, SW480
Polybia-MPI	Polybia paulista	IDWKKLLDAAKQIL	EJ, PC-3, HEPG-2		30 % at 100 μM	Zhang et al. (2010))

AIF apoptosis-inducing factor, BEL-7402 human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, BGC823 cells human gastric cancer, CCRF-CEM T human lymphoblastic leukemia, CEM a cell line derived from human T cells, ERK extracellular signal-regulated kinase, HeLa human cervical cancer, HeLa S3 a clonal derivative of the parent HeLa line, cervix tissue, Hep2 human laryngeal cancer, HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells, HUVEC human umbilical vein endothelial cells, IEC intestinal epithelial cells, L1210 mouse lymphocytic leukemia, LS-174T human colon adenocarcinoma cell line, PC12 pheochromocytoma of the rat adrenal medulla, P3-X63-Ag8.65 mouse myeloma cell line, P388 leukemia cells, SW human colon carcinoma cells, SW480 human colon adenocarcinoma, U937 and Jurkat human leukemia cell, VEGF vascular endothelial growth factor