Cancer is still one of the deadly diseases worldwide and the need for naturally-derived effectors is a pursued aim in health research. With the outstanding ability to bypass the host’s various defense mechanisms, tick saliva constitutes an interesting rich source for the discovery of therapeutically-valuable molecules. Therefore, the present work aimed to evaluate the anti-tumor potential of Hyalomma dromedarii salivary glands extract (SGE). Three cell lines were used in this study, namely HCT116 (colorectal cancer), A549 (lung cancer) and HFB4 (normal skin) cells. MTT assay and light microscopy revealed significant dose-dependent inhibition of proliferation with obvious morphological changes in tested cell lines. Colon cells exhibited more sensitivity than lung ones, therefore they were selected for further investigations. Although cytotoxic effects were observed in treated-HFB4 cells, its IC₅₀ value was much higher than that of HCT116 cells. Flow cytometry analysis of treated HCT116 cells showed accumulation of cellular DNA at the G2/M phase and induction of apoptosis. In addition, RT-qPCR indicated down-regulation in the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2), transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) genes. These results demonstrated that H. dromedarii SGE has anti-proliferative, apoptotic and anti-angiogenic potential. Also, they open perspectives for characterization of effective molecules that could be used in developing treatments for colorectal cancer. Further investigations are required to identify the mechanisms, molecules and signaling pathways involved in the inhibitory effect of the SGE.

癌症仍然是全球范围内的致命疾病之一，因此对健康研究的追求是追求自然来源的效应子。由于唾液唾液具有出色的绕过宿主各种防御机制的能力，因此构成了发现具有治疗价值的分子的有趣的丰富资源。因此，本研究旨在评估皮肤透明质酸的抗肿瘤潜力。唾液腺提取物（SGE）。在这项研究中使用了三种细胞系，分别是HCT116（结直肠癌），A549（肺癌）和HFB4（正常皮肤）细胞。MTT分析和光学显微镜检查显示，受试细胞系具有明显的剂量变化，并具有明显的剂量依赖性抑制增殖。结肠细胞比肺细胞具有更高的敏感性，因此选择它们进行进一步研究。尽管在处理过的HFB4细胞中观察到了细胞毒性作用，但其IC _50值值远高于HCT116细胞。经处理的HCT116细胞的流式细胞仪分析显示，细胞DNA在G2 / M期积累，并诱导凋亡。此外，RT-qPCR显示血管内皮生长因子（VEGF），成纤维细胞生长因子2（FGF-2），转化生长因子β（TGF-β）和白介素4（IL- 4）基因。这些结果表明，dromedarii SGE具有抗增殖，凋亡和抗血管生成的潜力。同样，他们为表征可用于开发结直肠癌治疗方法的有效分子开辟了前景。需要进一步的研究以鉴定与SGE的抑制作用有关的机制，分子和信号传导途径。