{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,11]],"date-time":"2025-09-11T16:41:45Z","timestamp":1757608905238,"version":"3.44.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,3]],"date-time":"2025-09-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1756857600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pharmacol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title><jats:p>Scorpion venoms contain bioactive molecules with potential antitumor properties. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of crude <jats:italic>Brotheas amazonicus<\/jats:italic> venom (BamazV) and its molecular weight\u2013separated fractions on human breast cancer cell lines, with a focus on identifying active compounds and elucidating their mechanisms of action.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Human breast epithelial (MCF10A) and breast cancer cell lines (SKBR3, MCF7, and MDA-MB-231) were first assessed for dose-dependent responses to paclitaxel, a standard chemotherapeutic agent. BamazV was fractionated by ultrafiltration into &amp;gt;10 kDa, 3\u201310 kDa, and &amp;lt;3 kDa fractions, which were tested for cytotoxic activity. The active fraction underwent reversed-phase chromatography, and the major bioactive peptide was characterized by mass spectrometry and Edman degradation. Cytotoxic mechanisms were investigated using cell death assays.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>All cell lines showed a dose-dependent response to paclitaxel. Crude BamazV induced significant cytotoxicity at concentrations \u2265 50 \u03bcg\/mL, with triple-negative MDA-MB-231 cells being the most sensitive. The &amp;gt;10 kDa fraction retained cytotoxic activity, leading to the isolation of a major peptide, BamazScplp1. Sequence analysis revealed 46\u201355% identity and 74\u201381% similarity to known scorpine-like peptides. Functional assays indicated that BamazScplp1 induced predominantly necrotic cell death, consistent with the activity profile of previously reported cytolytic scorpine-like molecules.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title><jats:p>These findings identify BamazScplp1 as a scorpine-like peptide with selective cytotoxicity toward triple-negative breast cancer cells, underscoring the potential of <jats:italic>B. amazonicus<\/jats:italic> venom as a source of bioactive compounds for cancer research.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphar.2025.1652614","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,3]],"date-time":"2025-09-03T07:37:42Z","timestamp":1756885062000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A novel scorpine-like peptide from the amazonian scorpion Brotheas amazonicus with cytolytic activity"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Mouzarllem Barros","family":"Reis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Karla","family":"De Castro Figueiredo Bordon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jonas Gama","family":"Martins","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gisele Adriano","family":"Wiezel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ualter Guilherme","family":"Cipriano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Rudi","family":"Emerson de Lima Proc\u00f3pio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vania Luiza","family":"Deperon Bonato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Eliane Candiani","family":"Arantes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"170","DOI":"10.1016\/j.addr.2010.10.008","article-title":"PLGA nanoparticles containing various anticancer agents and tumour delivery by EPR effect","volume":"63","author":"Acharya","year":"2011","journal-title":"Adv. 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