Venom peptides regulating Ca homeostasis: neuroprotective potential.

Venom peptides specialized in modulating intracellular calcium ([Ca]) offer a treasure trove of pharmacological properties to regulate aberrant Ca homeostasis in disease. Combined with emerging advances across peptide optimization, disease models, and functional bioassays, these venom peptides could unlock new therapies restoring Ca homeostasis. In this opinion, we explore the pharmacology of venom peptides modulating [Ca] signaling along with recent breakthroughs propelling venom peptide-based drug discovery.

Taking the sting out of scorpions: Electrophysiological investigation of the relative efficacy of three antivenoms against medically significant Centruroides species.

In this study, we report the innovative application of whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology in assessing broad-spectrum neutralisation by three different antivenoms, of venoms from the medically significant scorpion genus Centruroides. Envenomations by as many as 21 species from the Centruroides genus result in up to 300,000 envenomations per year in Mexico, which poses significant and potentially life-threatening pathophysiology. We first evaluated the in vitro manifestation of envenomation against two human voltage-gated sodium (hNa) channel subtypes: hNa1.