Biologically Active Peptides from Venoms: Applications in Antibiotic Resistance, Cancer, and Beyond

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 23; no. 23; p. 15437
• Main Authors: Ageitos, Lucía, Torres, Marcelo D T, de la Fuente-Nunez, Cesar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 06-12-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Amino acids; Analgesics; Animals; Antibiotic resistance; Antibiotics; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; antimicrobial peptides; Bacteria; Biocompatibility; Biological activity; Cancer; Drug resistance; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Enzymes; Gram-positive bacteria; Infections; Neoplasms - drug therapy; neurotoxins; Organisms; Peptides; Peptides - chemistry; Peptides - pharmacology; Prey; Review; Scorpions - chemistry; Snakes; South America; Toxicity; Venom; Venoms - pharmacology; Venoms - therapeutic use; South America; South America; neurotoxins; cancer; venom; antimicrobial peptides
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms232315437

Peptides are potential therapeutic alternatives against global diseases, such as antimicrobial-resistant infections and cancer. Venoms are a rich source of bioactive peptides that have evolved over time to act on specific targets of the prey. Peptides are one of the main components responsible for the biological activity and toxicity of venoms. South American organisms such as scorpions, snakes, and spiders are important producers of a myriad of peptides with different biological activities. In this review, we report the main venom-derived peptide families produced from South American organisms and their corresponding activities and biological targets.