ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1652614
A novel scorpine-like peptide from the Amazonian scorpion Brotheas amazonicus with cytolytic activity
Provisionally accepted
Mouzarllem Barros Reis1*
Karla De Castro Figueiredo Bordon2
Jonas Gama Martins3
Gisele Adriano Wiezel2
Ualter Cipriano2
Rudi Emerson de Lima Procopio4
Vania Luiza Deperon Bonato2
Eliane Candiani Arantes2- 1University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 2Universidade de Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 3Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia, Manaus, Brazil
- 4Universidade do Estado do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil
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Scorpion venoms contain bioactive molecules with potential antitumor properties. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxic effects of crude Brotheas amazonicus venom (BamazV) and its weight-separated fractions (>10 kDa, 3-10 kDa, and <3 kDa) on human breast cancer cell lines. Initially, all tested cell lines (MCF10A, SKBR3, MCF7, and MDA-MB-231) exhibited a dosedependent response to paclitaxel, a chemotherapy drug commonly used in breast cancer treatment. Crude venom induced significant cytotoxicity at concentrations ≥ 50 µg/mL, with triplenegative MDA-MB-231 cells being the most susceptible. Fractionation of BamazV through ultrafiltration revealed that the >10 kDa fraction retained cytotoxic activity, leading to the identification of a major bioactive component, BamazScplp1, through reversed-phase chromatography. This peptide was characterized by mass spectrometry and Edman degradation, revealing a primary structure with 46-55% identity and 74-81% similarity to known scorpine-like peptides. Functional assays demonstrated that BamazScplp1 induces cell death predominantly via necrosis, aligning with previously reported cytolytic scorpine-like molecules. These findings highlight the potential of BamazV as a source of bioactive compounds for cancer research.
Keywords: Brotheas amazonicus, scorpine-like, breast cancer, antitumor, Cytotoxic peptide, Necrosis
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 04 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Reis, Bordon, Martins, Wiezel, Cipriano, Procopio, Bonato and Arantes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mouzarllem Barros Reis, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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