title: Chlorotoxin: Structure, activity, and potential uses in cancer therapy.
abstract: Chlorotoxin is a disulfide-rich stable peptide from the venom of the Israeli scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus, which has potential therapeutic applications in the treatment of cancer. Its ability to preferentially bind to tumor cells has been harnessed to develop an imaging agent to help visualize tumors during surgical resection. In addition, chlorotoxin has attracted interest as a vehicle to deliver anti-cancer drugs specifically to cancer cells. Given its interesting structural and biological properties, chlorotoxin also has the potential to be used in a variety of other biotechnology and biomedical applications. Here, we review the structure, activity and potential applications of chlorotoxin as a drug design scaffold.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Paola G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Ojeda
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Conan K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Craik
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D012604:Scorpion Venoms; C091539:Chlorotoxin
keywords: cancer; drug delivery; drug development; peptides; scorpion venom