Scorpion venom has been gaining interest as a source of new drugs. It
contains a mixture of biological chemicals called peptides, some of
which are known to trigger cell death by forming pores in biological
membranes. Cell death can be useful if we are able to target, say,
tumour cells to auto-destruct.
These toxins can have very potent effects. For instance, one
particular small peptide, known as TsAP-1, isolated from the Brazilian
yellow scorpion (Tityus serrulatus), has both anti-microbial and anti-cancer properties.
However, harnessing this kind of power for clinical good has so far
been challenging because these toxins kill both tumours and healthy
cells. One method to control such toxicity is through using nanotechnology to build specially made drug-delivery vehicles. If successful, the toxic drug is released to kill only unwanted tissues in a body.
One such attempt has been made by Dipanjan Pan at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champagne. In a study published in the journal Chemical Communications,
scientists claim to have created spherical capsules to trap scorpion
venom toxin TsAP-1. This encapsulated toxin, named NanoVenin, increases
the drugs effectiveness at killing breast cancer cells by ten times.
This is an interesting development for two reasons. Firstly, the
venom toxin in its natural form could not be used due to the lack of
specificity and, secondly, the incorporation of the venom toxin in the
nanoparticle caused a large increase in the drug’s potency, making it
more clinically useful.
This form of the drug works on breast cancer cells, but it is not
disease-specific yet. Researchers can modify its outer shell by, for
example, attaching proteins that can make it selective towards certain
types of cancers. It may also be possible to coat the nanoparticle in a
biodegradable layer so as to trap its toxicity until it reaches the
diseased area, where the layer degrades to reveal the toxin.
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