Abstract: Abstract: Objective To observe the effect of polypeptide extract from scorpion venom (PESV) on the upstream activating factors of Hedgehog pathway of K562 cells, and explore the molecular regulation mechanism. Methods K562 cells were cultured in vitro, and seeded in 24-well plates. Different concentrations of PESV (low dose 10 mg/L, middle dose 20 mg/L and high-dose 40 mg/L) were added to the experimental group, 20 μL was added to the control group, imatinib 2 g/L (20 μL) was given to the positive control group (GLEEVEC group) and saline 20 μL was given to the negative control group. Cells were cultured for 48 h. Real-time PCR and Western blot assay were used for detecting the expression of mRNA and fusion protein P210bcr/abl in BCR/ABL gene of K562 cells, and upstream activating factors and proteins Shh, Smo and Ptch of Hedgehog pathway. Results Compared with the negative control group, the expression of BCR / ABL gene mRNA and P210bcr/abl in K562 cells were inhibited in PESV groups (P＜0.05). Compared with the negative group, the expression levels of mRNA and protein in K562 cells were lower in the middle and high dose PESV groups (P＜0.05). There were no significant differences in the expression levels of Shh, Smo and Ptch between GLEEVEC group and the middle, high dose PESV groups， but which were increased in low dose PESV group (P＜0.05). Conclusion PESV can inhibit the expressions of BCRABL fusion gene and P210bcr/abl of K562 cells, which is related with the inhibiting the expression of the upstream activation factors of Hedgehog pathway, and thereby inhibiting the progression of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Key words: scorpion venoms, Hedgehog, K562 cell, CML