The venom of the chactid Brotheas amazonicus may be used in cancer research and treatment

 

There have been a lot of research into scorpion venom to find potential agents to be used in medicine and treatment of serious diseases like cancer. Chlorotoxin from the venom of Leiurus quinquestriatus (Ehrenberg, 1828) (Buthidae) is one example of a very promising agent in the fight against serious brain cancer.

In a recent paper by Mouzarllem Barros Reis and co-workers, they studied the venom of the amazonian scorpion  Brotheas amazonicus Lourenço, 1988 (Chactidae). I'm not going into detail about this work as this is way outside my expertise, but just mention that the study demonstrates that venom of the this species contains a scorpine-like molecule with high cytolytic activity in human breast cancer tumor lines. This opens that possibility for using molecules from the venom into cancer research and therapy.

Abstract:
Introduction: Scorpion venoms contain bioactive molecules with potential antitumor properties. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of crude Brotheas amazonicus venom (BamazV) and its molecular weight–separated fractions on human breast cancer cell lines, with a focus on identifying active compounds and elucidating their mechanisms of action.
Methods: Human breast epithelial (MCF10A) and breast cancer cell lines (SKBR3, MCF7, and MDA-MB-231) were first assessed for dose-dependent responses to paclitaxel, a standard chemotherapeutic agent. BamazV was fractionated by ultrafiltration into >10 kDa, 3–10 kDa, and <3 kDa fractions, which were tested for cytotoxic activity. The active fraction underwent reversed-phase chromatography, and the major bioactive peptide was characterized by mass spectrometry and Edman degradation. Cytotoxic mechanisms were investigated using cell death assays.
Results: All cell lines showed a dose-dependent response to paclitaxel. Crude BamazV induced significant cytotoxicity at concentrations ≥ 50 μg/mL, with triplenegativeMDA- MB-231 cells being themost sensitive. The >10 kDa fraction retained cytotoxic activity, leading to the isolation of a major peptide, BamazScplp1. Sequence analysis revealed 46–55% identity and 74–81% similarity to known scorpine-like peptides. Functional assays indicated that BamazScplp1 induced predominantly necrotic cell death, consistent with the activity profile of previously reported cytolytic scorpine-like molecules.
Discussion: These findings identify BamazScplp1 as a scorpine-like peptide with selective cytotoxicity toward triple-negative breast cancer cells, underscoring the potential of B. amazonicus venom as a source of bioactive compounds for cancer research.

Reference:
Reis MB, Bordon KDCF, Martins JG, Wiezel GA, Cipriano U, Procopio REdL, et al. A novel scorpine-like peptide from the amazonian scorpion Brotheas amazonicus with cytolytic activity. Front Pharmacol. 2025;16:1652614. [Open Access]

Thanks to Jonas Martins for sending me their article!