PMAIP1 and cancer: On the other hand, research demonstrated that cell lines, such as Hela and MDA-MB-231, were prone to cell death when treated with Rhopalurus junceus venom by mechanisms associated with the increased expression of apoptotic genes, such as Bax, Noxa, and Puma; the mechanism of action involved the upregulation of the bax, p53, and caspase 3 (the gene expression of bax and caspase 3 increased significantly after 24 h, and that of p53, after 48 h, on the cell lines of F3II cancer cells) genes; the downregulation of the bcl-2 genes likely as a result of the upregulation of p53.