Almeida J R, Resende L M, Watanabe R K, Carregari V C, Huancahuire-Vega S, da S Caldeira C A, Coutinho-Neto A, Soares A M, Vale N, de C Gomes P A, Marangoni S, de A Calderon L, Da Silva S L
Universidad Regional Amazonica Ikiam, Km 7 Via Muyuna, Tena, Napo. Ecuador.
Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP. Brazil.
Curr Med Chem. 2017;24(30):3254-3282. doi: 10.2174/0929867323666161028155611.
Snake venoms are natural sources of biologically active molecules that are able to act selectively and specifically on different cellular targets, modulating physiological functions. Thus, these mixtures, composed mainly of proteins and peptides, provide ample and challenging opportunities and a diversified molecular architecture to design and develop tools and agents of scientific and therapeutic interest. Among these components, peptides and small proteins play diverse roles in numerous physiological processes, exerting a wide range of pharmacological activities, such as antimicrobial, antihypertensive, analgesic, antitumor, analgesic, among others. The pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries have recognized the huge potential of these privileged frameworks and believe them to be a promising alternative to contemporary drugs. A number of natural or synthetic peptides from snake venoms have already found preclinical or clinical applications for the treatment of pain, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and aging skin. A well-known example is captopril, whose natural peptide precursor was isolated from Bothrops jararaca snake venom, which is a peptide-based drug that inhibits the angiotensin-converting enzyme, producing an anti-hypertensive effect. The present review looks at the main peptides (natriuretic peptides, bradykinin-potentiating peptides and sarafotoxins) and low mass proteins (crotamine, disintegrins and three-Finger toxins) from snake venoms, as well as synthetic peptides inspired by them, describing their biochemical, structural and physiological features, as well as their applications as research tools and therapeutic agents.
蛇毒是生物活性分子的天然来源，能够选择性且特异性地作用于不同的细胞靶点，调节生理功能。因此，这些主要由蛋白质和肽组成的混合物，为设计和开发具有科学及治疗意义的工具和药物提供了丰富且具有挑战性的机会以及多样化的分子结构。在这些成分中，肽和小蛋白质在众多生理过程中发挥着不同作用，具有广泛的药理活性，如抗菌、抗高血压、止痛、抗肿瘤等。制药和化妆品行业已经认识到这些特殊结构的巨大潜力，并认为它们是当代药物的一个有前景的替代品。许多来自蛇毒的天然或合成肽已在疼痛、高血压、心血管疾病和皮肤老化治疗方面找到了临床前或临床应用。一个著名的例子是卡托普利，其天然肽前体是从巴西矛头蝮蛇毒中分离出来的，这是一种基于肽的药物，可抑制血管紧张素转换酶，产生抗高血压作用。本综述着眼于蛇毒中的主要肽（利钠肽、缓激肽增强肽和沙罗毒素）和低分子量蛋白质（巴曲酶、去整合素和三指毒素），以及受它们启发的合成肽，描述它们的生化、结构和生理特征，以及它们作为研究工具和治疗药物的应用。
