OBJECTIVES The defective apoptosis is believed to play a major role in the survival and proliferation of neoplastic cells. Hence, the induction of apoptosis in cancer cells is one of the targets for cancer treatment. Researchers are considering scorpion venom as a potent natural source for cancer treatment because it contains many bioactive compounds. The main objective of the current study is ...

We describe a case of severe scorpion envenomation in an adult patient, with the presence of very rapid sustained ventricular tachycardia followed by cardiogenic shock, which was reversed by scorpion antivenom administration. Scorpion venom causes cardiac changes that can lead to an environment favoring arrhythmogenesis.

1 Rahav G, Weiss AT. Scorpion sting-induced pulmonary edema: scintigraphic evidence of cardiac dysfunction. Chest 1990; 97:1478-80 2 Gueron M. Actinomyces me rii breast abscess [letterl. Am J Med 1988; 84:369 3 Sofer S, Gueron M. Respiratory failure in children following envenomation by the scorpion L, iurus quinquestriatus: hemodynamic and neurological aspects. Toxicon 1988; 26:931-39 4 Gueron...

This communication describes the first general biochemical, molecular and functional characterization of the venom from the Cuban blue scorpion Rhopalurus junceus, which is often used as a natural product for anti-cancer therapy in Cuba. The soluble venom of this arachnid is not toxic to mice, injected intraperitoneally at doses up to 200 μg/20 g body weight, but it is deadly to insects at dose...

Venom gland transcriptomic and proteomic analyses have improved our knowledge on the diversity of the heterogeneous components present in scorpion venoms. However, most of these studies have focused on species from the family Buthidae. To gain insights into the molecular diversity of the venom components of scorpions belonging to the family Superstitioniidae, one of the neglected scorpion famil...

Proteomic analysis of the scorpion venom Scorpio maurus palmatus was performed using reverse-phase HPLC separation followed by mass spectrometry determination. Sixty five components were identified with molecular masses varying from 413 to 14,009 Da. The high percentage of peptides (41.5%) was from 3 to 5 KDa which may represent linear antimicrobial peptides and KScTxs. Also, 155 expressed sequ...

BACKGROUND Myocardial toxicity following a sting by the Indian red scorpion (Mesobuthus tamulus) is a life-threatening medical emergency. A perusal of the published literature suggests that this problem has seldom been studied systematically. METHODS We retrospectively studied the clinical presentation and echocardiographic findings in 24 patients (mean [SD] age 23.2 [11.7] years; 19 males) w...

The ICK (inhibitor cystine knot) defines a large superfamily of polypeptides with high structural stability and functional diversity. Here, we describe a new scorpion venom-derived K+ channel toxin (named λ-MeuKTx-1) with an ICK fold through gene cloning, chemical synthesis, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Ca2+ release measurements and electrophysiological recordings. λ-MeuKTx-1 was fo...

There has been very little undisputed evidence for recombination in animal mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) provided so far. Previous unpublished results suggestive of mtDNA recombination in the scorpion family Buthidae, together with cytological evidence for a unique mechanism of mitochondrial fusion in that family, prompted us to investigate this group in more details. First, we sequenced the comple...