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Toxin bioportides: exploring toxin biological activity and multifunctionality.

Irina Kerkis¹, Alvaro Rossan de Brandão Prieto da Silva², Celine Pompeia²

¹Laboratório de Genética, Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brasil 1500, São Paulo, SP, 05503-900, Brazil. irina.kerkis@butantan.gov.br.

Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences : CMLS

|August 25, 2016

Summary

Toxins can be repurposed as bioportides, which are cell-penetrating peptides that deliver substances intracellularly. This review explores toxins as a novel source for these bioactive tools.

Keywords:

Bioportide Cargo delivery Cell-penetrating peptides Chlorotoxin Crotamine Toxins

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Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Molecular Biology
Pharmacology

Background:

Toxins possess diverse biological functions and serve as valuable sources for drug discovery and biotechnological applications.
Bioportides, a class of cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) with intrinsic bioactivity, facilitate intracellular delivery of substances and nanoparticles.
Existing bioportides are primarily derived from human proteins, overlooking the potential of toxins.

Purpose of the Study:

To re-evaluate toxins as a potential source for novel bioportides.
To explore the structural and functional characteristics of toxin-derived bioportides.
To propose an innovative strategy for identifying and designing new pharmacological and biotechnological products based on toxins.

Main Methods:

Reviewing existing literature on toxins and bioportides.
Analyzing structure-activity relationships (SAR) of toxins.
Investigating molecular minimization and biological activity of toxin-derived peptides.
Comparative analysis of amino acid composition in toxin-derived bioportides and their variants.

Main Results:

Toxins exhibit properties suitable for bioportide classification, including specific bioactivity and transmembrane penetration residues.
A comparative analysis strategy reveals toxin multifunctionality and potential for novel bioportide development.
Many potential bioportide toxins possess rigid, amphiphilic structures crucial for cell penetration and bioactivity.

Conclusions:

Toxins represent an underutilized reservoir for developing novel bioportides.
Understanding toxin structure and function can lead to innovative pharmacological and biotechnological tools.
Toxin-derived bioportides offer a promising avenue for targeted intracellular delivery and therapeutic applications.