Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983969411, Iran.
Toxins (Basel). 2022 May 26;14(6):370. doi: 10.3390/toxins14060370.
Scorpion venom is a complex secretory mixture of components with potential biological and physiological properties that attracted many researchers due to promising applications from clinical and pharmacological perspectives. In this study, we investigated the venom of the Iranian scorpion (Simon, 1880) by applying mass-spectrometry-based proteomic and lipidomic approaches to assess the diversity of components present in the venom. The data revealed that the venom's proteome composition is largely dominated by Na- and K-channel-impairing toxic peptides, following the enzymatic and non-enzymatic protein families, e.g., angiotensin-converting enzyme, serine protease, metalloprotease, hyaluronidase, carboxypeptidase, and cysteine-rich secretory peptide. Furthermore, lipids comprise ~1.2% of the dry weight of the crude venom. Phospholipids, ether-phospholipids, oxidized-phospholipids, triacylglycerol, cardiolipins, very-long-chain sphingomyelins, and ceramides were the most intensely detected lipid species in the scorpion venom, may acting either independently or synergistically during the envenomation alongside proteins and peptides. The results provide detailed information on the chemical makeup of the venom, helping to improve our understanding of biological molecules present in it, leading to a better insight of the medical significance of the venom, and improving the medical care of patients suffering from scorpion accidents in the relevant regions such as Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Afghanistan.
蝎子毒液是一种复杂的分泌混合物，具有潜在的生物学和生理学特性，由于从临床和药理学角度来看具有有前景的应用，因此吸引了许多研究人员。在这项研究中，我们通过应用基于质谱的蛋白质组学和脂质组学方法来研究伊朗蝎子（Simon，1880）的毒液，以评估毒液中存在的成分的多样性。数据显示，毒液的蛋白质组组成主要由 Na-和 K-通道破坏毒性肽主导，其次是酶和非酶蛋白家族，例如血管紧张素转换酶、丝氨酸蛋白酶、金属蛋白酶、透明质酸酶、羧肽酶和富含半胱氨酸的分泌肽。此外，脂质占粗毒液干重的~1.2%。在蝎子毒液中，磷脂、醚磷脂、氧化磷脂、三酰基甘油、心磷脂、超长链鞘氨醇和神经酰胺是最强烈检测到的脂质种类，它们可能与蛋白质和肽一起在毒液中毒时独立或协同作用。这些结果提供了毒液化学成分的详细信息，有助于提高我们对其中存在的生物分子的理解，从而更好地了解毒液的医学意义，并改善在伊朗、伊拉克、土耳其和阿富汗等相关地区遭受蝎子事故的患者的医疗护理。
