Specific sensitivity of small cell lung cancer cell lines to the snake venom toxin taipoxin.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a malignant disease, for which no satisfactory treatment is presently available and consequently, new specific therapeutic targets are in high demand. A global gene expression analysis previously performed, identified the neuronal pentraxin receptor (NPR) as highly and relatively specifically expressed in SCLC, consistent with the neuroendocrine features of this cancer. Normally, NPR is exclusively expressed in neurons, where it associates with the homologous proteins neuronal pentraxins 1 and 2 (NP1 and NP2) in complexes capable of binding the snake venom neurotoxin taipoxin.