In the Scorpion Venom Center, which was established for scientific purposes at Harran University, scientific studies are carried out to develop anticancer drugs from scorpion venom for breast cancers.
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology, Dr. Instructor Scientific studies on anti-cancer, antimicrobial and other uses in medicine continue unabated by academics in the Harran University Scorpion Venom Research Group, which was established under the coordination of its member Şahin Toprak. One of the projects carried out in this context is Harran University Faculty of Medicine Faculty Member Assoc. Dr. It is made by İsmail Koyuncu and his team to develop anticancer drugs from scorpion venom for breast cancers.
Stating that scorpion venoms contain many bioactive compounds that are effective against the progression of cancer, Assoc. Dr. Ismail Koyuncu; “Black scorpion (Androctanus Crassicauda) venom is the most expensive and deadly venom with exciting medical prospects and potential as a drug candidate. Several scorpion venom peptides have shown promise in many diseases. Due to its structural and functional specificity, scorpion peptides have been widely used in the development of specific drugs, especially for cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other immune system deficiencies.
Because the scorpion venom content varies according to the type of scorpion and the environment in which it lives, even scorpion venom belonging to the same species has different pharmacological effects. Therefore, in this study, the metabolite profile and anti-cancer properties of black scorpion venom living in Şanlıurfa were investigated.
In this study; Venom fractions with a size of 3-10 kDa were obtained by processing the venom collected from scorpions with the electric impulse method. The anti-cancer effect and mechanism of action of the obtained poison fractions on ten different cancers (breast, prostate, lung, colon, etc.) and normal cells were examined. As a result of the study, it was determined that the scorpion venom showed the strongest anti-cancer effect on breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) by triggering the death mechanism we call apoptosis, and it did not harm normal breast cells either.
We continue our studies to investigate this effect in more detail and to determine the target molecule. With the detection of the active peptide, it will be possible to produce the drug synthetically without the need for scorpion venom.
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