Special Issue "The Frontiers of Toxin in Pharmacology"

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Gihyun Lee
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Korean Medicine, Dongshin University, Naju 58245, Korea
Interests: venom; drug discovery; pharmacology; herbal medicine; immune response
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Toxins are dangerous or lethal to humans, but they can also alter physiological and pathological processes in the human body as medicines do. For this reason, toxins have been studied for drug discovery and development. A wide range of studies using toxins from bacteria, bees, fish, frogs, fungi, lizards, scorpions, snakes, and spiders is under way. Some toxins are currently used in clinics, but many unknown areas still remain. This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive view of toxins with therapeutic potential. It includes pharmacological issues, including mechanisms of functions, structure function, safety, and clinical potential. We hope that researchers will share their valuable research on toxins to open up unexplored areas.

Prof. Dr. Gihyun Lee
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • toxin
  • venom
  • frontier
  • mechanism
  • structure
  • function
  • safety
  • pharmacology

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Article
Modification Strategy of D-leucine Residue Addition on a Novel Peptide from Odorrana schmackeri, with Enhanced Bioactivity and In Vivo Efficacy
Toxins 2021, 13(9), 611; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13090611 (registering DOI) - 31 Aug 2021
Viewed by 66
Abstract
Brevinins are a well-characterised, frog-skin-derived, antimicrobial peptide (AMP) family, but their applications are limited by high cytotoxicity. In this study, a wild-type des-Leu2 brevinin peptide, named brevinin-1OS (B1OS), was identified from Odorrana schmackeri. To explore the significant role of the leucine residue [...] Read more.
Brevinins are a well-characterised, frog-skin-derived, antimicrobial peptide (AMP) family, but their applications are limited by high cytotoxicity. In this study, a wild-type des-Leu2 brevinin peptide, named brevinin-1OS (B1OS), was identified from Odorrana schmackeri. To explore the significant role of the leucine residue at the second position, two variants, B1OS-L and B1OS-D-L, were designed by adding L-leucine and D-leucine residues at this site, respectively. The antibacterial and anticancer activities of B1OS-L and B1OS-D-L were around ten times stronger than the parent peptide. The activity of B1OS against the growth of Gram-positive bacteria was markedly enhanced after modification. Moreover, the leucine-modified products exerted in vivo therapeutic potential in an methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-infected waxworm model. Notably, the single substitution of D-leucine significantly increased the killing speed on lung cancer cells, where no viable H838 cells survived after 2 h of treatment with B1OS-D-L at 10 μM with low cytotoxicity on normal cells. Overall, our study suggested that the conserved leucine residue at the second position from the N-terminus is vital for optimising the dual antibacterial and anticancer activities of B1OS and proposed B1OS-D-L as an appealing therapeutic candidate for development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Frontiers of Toxin in Pharmacology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Article
Study of Anti-Inflammatory and Analgesic Activity of Scorpion Toxins DKK-SP1/2 from Scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK)
Toxins 2021, 13(7), 498; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins13070498 - 17 Jul 2021
Viewed by 692
Abstract
Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK), is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used for a long history for the treatment of many diseases, such as inflammation, pain and cancer. In this study, DKK-SP1/2/3 genes were screened and extracted from [...] Read more.
Buthus martensii Karsch (BmK), is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine, which has been used for a long history for the treatment of many diseases, such as inflammation, pain and cancer. In this study, DKK-SP1/2/3 genes were screened and extracted from the cDNA library of BmK. The DKK-SP1/2/3 were expressed by using plasmid pSYPU-1b in E. coli BL21, and recombinant proteins were obtained by column chromatography. In the xylene-induced mouse ear swelling and carrageenan-induced rat paw swelling model, DKK-SP1 exerted a significant anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting the expression of Nav1.8 channel. Meanwhile, the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (COX-2, IL-6) was decreased significantly and the release of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10) were elevated significantly. Moreover, DKK-SP1 could significantly decrease the Nav1.8 current in acutely isolated rat DRG neurons. In the acetic acid-writhing and ION-CCI model, DKK-SP2 displayed significant analgesic activity by inhibiting the expression of the Nav1.7 channel. Moreover, DKK-SP2 could significantly inhibit the Nav1.7 current in the hNav1.7-CHO cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Frontiers of Toxin in Pharmacology)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Botulinum toxin in cancer therapy – current perspectives and limitations
Authors: Anna Grend; Tomasz Grenda *; Paweł Krawczyk; Krzysztof Kwiatek
Affiliation: Anna Grenda (Department of Pneumology, Oncology and Allergology, Medical University of Lublin, Jaczewskiego 8, 20-954 Lublin, Poland) Tomasz Grenda (Department of Hygiene of Animal Feeding Stuffs, National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow Avenue 57, 24-100 Pulawy) Paweł Krawczyk (Department of Pneumology, Oncology and Allergology, Medical University of Lublin Jaczewskiego 8, 20-954 Lublin, Poland) Krzysztof Kwiatek (Department of Hygiene of Animal Feeding Stuffs, National Veterinary Research Institute, Partyzantow Avenue 57, 24-100 Pulawy)
Abstract: Botulinum toxins (BoNTs) are considered to be the most potent toxic substances naturally occurring in an environment. Their mechanism of action is based on deactivation of the SNARE complex causing vesicle fusion and release of neurotransmitters inhibition (acetylcholine and others) from the presynaptic vesicles. Different serotypes of the BoNT act upon different types of SNARE proteins. This property is used in cosmetology, to treat certain eye disorders such as crossed eyes (strabismus) and uncontrolled blinking (blepharospasm), to treat muscle spasms or movement disorders and since two last decades also more and more often to support of cancer therapy, especially to obtain analgesic effect on the spastic conditions treatment. Several publications have drawn attention to the utility of BoNT injections in cancer-related pain syndromes arising either by direct pressure from a neoplastic mass or from neuropathic pain at the site of cancer surgery or radiation. Aside from pain, BoNT injection into parotid or submaxillary glands has been shown to reduce symptoms such as sialorrhea resulting from gland injury as well as healing surgical complications such as fistula and sialocele. BoNT injections have been reported to relieve gustatory hyperhidrosis resulting from parotid and oral surgery in cancer patients. The limited literature also suggests that adding BoNT to the culture of cancer cell lines lows growth and mitotic activity of certain cancer cells and promotes apoptosis. BoNTs have several advantages that can be emphasised: BoNT acts on both perfusion and oxygenation, increasing the efficacy of both radiotherapy and chemotherapy; BoNT has a long-term action, allowing potentiation of radiotherapy. BoNTs are considered to be safe and not causing systemic side effects. Although very unlikely, it is possible for the toxin in the injection to spread in the body and trigger disorders like a: muscle weakness, vision problems, troub! le in speaking, swallowing and breathing, or loss of bladder control. Recently, advances in molecular biology techniques have allowed a wide variety of novel BoNTs constructs with alternative functions to be assessed as potential new classes of atoxic therapeutic drugs. This creates new potential future perspectives in wider use of non-toxic modified BoNT constructs in cancer therapy. In the light of mentioned premises and existing literature reports, the aim of this review is to summarise current data and reports considering BoNTs use in cancer therapy – their current and future applications, and limitations.

Back to TopTop