{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T20:25:18Z","timestamp":1781727918267,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,29]],"date-time":"2022-03-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1648512000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the National Research foundation of Korea (NRF), grant funded by the Korea government (MSIP)","award":["2017M3A9G7072864 and NRF-2017M3A9G6068246"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017M3A9G7072864 and NRF-2017M3A9G6068246"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most dominant primary liver cancer, which can be caused by chronic hepatitis virus infections and other environmental factors. Resection, liver transplantation, and local ablation are only a few of the highly effective and curative procedures presently accessible. However, other complementary treatments can reduce cancer treatment side effects. In this present work, we evaluated the activity of Moroccan scorpion venom Buthus occitanus and its fractions obtained by chromatography gel filtration against HCC cells using a 3D cell culture model. The venom was fractionated by gel filtration chromatography, each fraction and the crude venom was tested on normal hepatocytes (Fa2N-4 cells). Additionally, the fractions and the crude venom were tested on MCTSs (multicellular tumor spheroids), and this latter was generated by cultivate Huh7.5 cancer cell line with WI38 cells, LX2 cells, and human endothelial cells (HUVEC). Our results indicate that Buthus occitanus venom toxin has no cytotoxic effects on normal hepatocytes. Moreover, it is reported that F3 fraction could significantly inhibit the MCTS cells. Other Protein Separation Techniques (High-performance liquid chromatography) are needed in order to identify the most active molecule.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules27072219","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,29]],"date-time":"2022-03-29T21:41:30Z","timestamp":1648590090000},"page":"2219","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":16,"title":["Anti-Cancer Activity of Buthus occitanus Venom on Hepatocellular Carcinoma in 3D Cell Culture"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0303-8525","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ayoub","family":"Lafnoune","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire des Venins et Toxines, D\u00e9partement de Recherche, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, 1, Place Louis Pasteur, Casablanca 20360, Morocco"},{"name":"Laboratoire Physiopathologie, G\u00e9n\u00e9tique Mol\u00e9culaire & Biotechnologie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences Ain-Chock, Hassan II University of Casablanca, B.P 5366 Maarif, Casablanca 20000, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Su-Yeon","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cancer Biology Research Laboratory, Institut Pasteur Korea, 16, Daewangpangyo-ro 712 beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si 13488, Gyeonggi-do, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jin-Yeong","family":"Heo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Screening Discovery Platform, Institut Pasteur Korea, 16, Daewangpangyo-ro 712 beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si 13488, Gyeonggi-do, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khadija","family":"Daoudi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire des Venins et Toxines, D\u00e9partement de Recherche, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, 1, Place Louis Pasteur, Casablanca 20360, Morocco"},{"name":"Laboratoire Physiopathologie, G\u00e9n\u00e9tique Mol\u00e9culaire & Biotechnologie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences Ain-Chock, Hassan II University of Casablanca, B.P 5366 Maarif, Casablanca 20000, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5547-2684","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bouchra","family":"Darkaoui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire des Venins et Toxines, D\u00e9partement de Recherche, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, 1, Place Louis Pasteur, Casablanca 20360, Morocco"},{"name":"Laboratoire Physiopathologie, G\u00e9n\u00e9tique Mol\u00e9culaire & Biotechnologie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences Ain-Chock, Hassan II University of Casablanca, B.P 5366 Maarif, Casablanca 20000, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salma","family":"Chakir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire des Venins et Toxines, D\u00e9partement de Recherche, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, 1, Place Louis Pasteur, Casablanca 20360, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rachida","family":"Cadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire Physiopathologie, G\u00e9n\u00e9tique Mol\u00e9culaire & Biotechnologie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences Ain-Chock, Hassan II University of Casablanca, B.P 5366 Maarif, Casablanca 20000, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Khadija","family":"Mounaji","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire Physiopathologie, G\u00e9n\u00e9tique Mol\u00e9culaire & Biotechnologie, Facult\u00e9 des Sciences Ain-Chock, Hassan II University of Casablanca, B.P 5366 Maarif, Casablanca 20000, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Shum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Screening Discovery Platform, Institut Pasteur Korea, 16, Daewangpangyo-ro 712 beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si 13488, Gyeonggi-do, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haeng-Ran","family":"Seo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cancer Biology Research Laboratory, Institut Pasteur Korea, 16, Daewangpangyo-ro 712 beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si 13488, Gyeonggi-do, Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naoual","family":"Oukkache","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire des Venins et Toxines, D\u00e9partement de Recherche, Institut Pasteur du Maroc, 1, Place Louis Pasteur, Casablanca 20360, Morocco"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Global Burden of Disease Cancer Collaboration, Fitzmaurice, C., Allen, C., Barber, R.M., Barregard, L., Bhutta, Z.A., Brenner, H., Dicker, D.J., Chimed-Orchir, O., and Dandona, R. 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