introduction: scorpion venom is a source of bioactive peptides, and some antimicrobial peptides (amps) have been found in the venom gland of scorpions. therefore, the discovery of new anti-infective agents is an essential need to overcome the problem of antibiotic resistance of clinical isolates. here, we describe three new cationic amps, including meuvap-6, meuap-18-1, and meupep34 from the ve...

Gliomas are rarely curable malignant brain tumors arising from normal glial cells. The scorpion-derived small peptide, chlorotoxin (CTX), can selectively bind malignant gliomas. In the present study, a CTX-conjugated onconase (Onc), a small cytotoxic ribonuclease, was prepared as a potential anti-glioma drug. In this conjugate, recombinant CTX was covalently linked with recombinant Onc by rever...

We report the development of neurotoxin-mediated upconversion nanoprobes for tumor targeting and visualization in living animals. The nanoprobes were synthesized by preparing polyethylenimine-coated hexagonal-phase NaYF(4):Yb,Er/Ce nanoparticles and conjugating them with recombinant chlorotoxin, a typical peptide neurotoxin that could bind with high specificity to many types of cancer cells. Na...

BACKGROUND Glioblastoma is a type of highly malignant primary brain tumour. By means of ion excretion and the associated obligatory water loss, glioma cells can change shapes and undergo extensive migration and invasion. This study investigated the effects of inhibition of ion excretion in glioma cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS The expression of chloride channels (ClCs) and metalloproteinase-2 (...

chlorotoxin is a 36 amino acids peptide, which is able to block chloride channels isolated from mouse brain. a derivative of chlorotoxin is synthesized and it is labeled by iodine 131; then animal experiments carry out on rats. multiple organ doses may be calculated with biological distribution results in rats with labeled compounds using simulated mcnp4c code. human dose can be calculated usin...

background: the influence of hashimoto’s thyroiditis (ht) with subclinical hypothyroidism or euthyroid status on the alteration of glucagon-like peptide (glp)-1 and glp-2 levels remains uncertain. materials and methods: twenty-four untreated ht patients with subclinical hypothyroidism, 24 euthyroid ht patients, and 24 age- and gender-matched controls were enrolled in the study. the levels of gl...

Scorpions are generally an important source of bioactive components, including toxins and other small peptides as attractive molecules for new drug development. Mesobuthus eupeus, from medically important and widely distributed Buthidae family, is the most abundant species in Iran. Researchers are interesting on the gland of this scorpion due to the complexity of its venom. Here, we have analyz...

The short in vivo half-life of GLP-1 prevents it from being used clinically. This short half-life occurs because GLP-1 is rapidly degraded by dipeptidyl peptidases such as DPP-IV. To overcome this obstacle, a GLP-1/Fc was constructed and evaluated to determine if it was degraded by DPP-IV and in serum. When the degradation of GLP-1/Fc by human DPP-IV and rabbit serum was compared with that of G...