title: Scorpion venoms as a potential source of novel cancer therapeutic compounds.
abstract: Scorpions and their venoms have been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years in China, India and Africa. The scorpion venom is a highly complex mixture of salts, nucleotides, biogenic amines, enzymes, mucoproteins, as well as peptides and proteins (e.g. neurotoxins). One of the recently observed biological properties of animal venoms and toxins is that they possess anticancer potential. An increasing number of studies have shown that scorpion venoms and toxins can decrease cancer growth, induce apoptosis and inhibit cancer progression and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Several active molecules with anticancer activities, ranging from inhibition of proliferation and cell cycle arrest to induction of apoptosis and decreasing cell migration and invasion, have been isolated from scorpion venoms. These observations have shed light on the application of scorpion venoms and toxins as potential novel cancer therapeutics. This mini-review focuses on the anticancer potential of scorpion venoms and toxins and the possible mechanisms for their antitumor activities.
authors.affiliation: Venom and Toxin Research Programme, Department of Anatomy, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117 597.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Pei-Jou
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: Boon-Huat
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Bay
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gopalakrishnakone
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis; D055808:Drug Discovery; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D012604:Scorpion Venoms
keywords: Scorpion; anticancer potential; apoptosis; venoms and toxins