Melittin (MEL) abolished the expression/secretion of the EGF-induced VEGF in the CaSKi cells.

(A) RT-PCR analysis of VEGF, and GLUT-1 mRNA was carried out using total RNA prepared from CaSki cells incubated with EGF treatment for 12 h in the presence or absence of the indicated concentrations of MEL. (B) CaSki cells were transiently co-transfected with a reporter gene, pGL3-HRE-Luciferase, and pRL-CMV as a reference. Following incubation for 24 h, the cells were incubated with EGF treatment in the presence or absence of indicated concentration of MEL. (C) VEGF protein expression was evaluated by ELISA in culture supernatant of CaSki cells after incubation under EGF treatment in the presence or absence of the indicated concentrations of MEL. (D) CaSki cells were treated with MEL on EGF-induced for 6 h. The immunoprecipitated DNA with mouse normal IgG and HIF-1α antibody was amplified by PCR analysis for VEF promoter HRE region.