The application of snake venom in anticancer drug discovery: an overview of the latest developments.

IF 6 2区医学 Q1 PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY

Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery Pub Date : 2025-02-26 DOI:10.1080/17460441.2025.2465364

Joana R da Silva, Juliana Castro-Amorim, Ashis K Mukherjee, Maria João Ramos, Pedro A Fernandes

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Snake venom is a rich source of toxins with great potential for therapeutic applications. In addition to its efficacy in treating hypertension, acute coronary syndrome, and other heart conditions, research has shown that this potent enzymatic cocktail is capable of selectively targeting and destroying cancer cells in many cases while sparing healthy cells.

Areas covered: The authors begin by acknowledging the emerging trends in snake-derived targeted therapies in battling cancer. An extensive literature review examining the effects of various snake venom toxins on cancer cell lines, highlighting the specific cancer hallmarks each toxin targets is presented. Furthermore, the authors emphasize the emerging potential of artificial intelligence in accelerating snake venom-based drug discovery for cancer treatment, showcasing several innovative software applications in this field.

Expert opinion: Research on snake venom toxins indicates promising potential for cancer treatment as many of the discussed toxins can specifically target cancer cells. Nevertheless, variations in the composition of venoms, ethical issues, and delivery barriers limit their development into effective therapies. Thus, advances in biotechnology, molecular engineering, in silico methods are crucial for the refinement of venom-derived compounds, improving their specificity, and overcoming these challenges, ultimately enhancing their therapeutic potential in cancer therapy.

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蛇毒在抗癌药物研发中的应用：最新进展综述。

蛇毒是一种丰富的毒素来源，具有巨大的治疗应用潜力。除了在治疗高血压、急性冠状动脉综合征和其他心脏疾病方面的功效外，研究表明，在许多情况下，这种有效的酶混合物能够选择性地靶向并摧毁癌细胞，同时保留健康细胞。涵盖的领域：作者首先承认了蛇衍生的靶向治疗在对抗癌症方面的新趋势。广泛的文献综述检查了各种蛇毒毒素对癌细胞系的影响，突出了每种毒素目标的特定癌症特征。此外，作者强调了人工智能在加速基于蛇毒的癌症治疗药物发现方面的新兴潜力，并展示了该领域的几个创新软件应用。专家意见：对蛇毒毒素的研究显示了治疗癌症的潜力，因为许多讨论的毒素可以专门针对癌细胞。然而，毒液成分的差异、伦理问题和输送障碍限制了它们发展成为有效的治疗方法。因此，生物技术、分子工程和计算机方法的进步对于改进毒液衍生化合物、提高其特异性和克服这些挑战至关重要，最终增强其在癌症治疗中的治疗潜力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery 医学-药学

CiteScore

10.20

自引率

1.60%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery (ISSN 1746-0441 [print], 1746-045X [electronic]) is a MEDLINE-indexed, peer-reviewed, international journal publishing review articles on novel technologies involved in the drug discovery process, leading to new leads and reduced attrition rates. Each article is structured to incorporate the author’s own expert opinion on the scope for future development. The Editors welcome: Reviews covering chemoinformatics; bioinformatics; assay development; novel screening technologies; in vitro/in vivo models; structure-based drug design; systems biology Drug Case Histories examining the steps involved in the preclinical and clinical development of a particular drug The audience consists of scientists and managers in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, academic pharmaceutical scientists and other closely related professionals looking to enhance the success of their drug candidates through optimisation at the preclinical level.