Peptide therapeutics from venom: Current status and potential

Michael W. Pennington, Andrzej Czerwinski, Raymond S. Norton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

206 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Peptides are recognized as being highly selective, potent and relatively safe as potential therapeutics. Peptides isolated from the venom of different animals satisfy most of these criteria with the possible exception of safety, but when isolated as single compounds and used at appropriate concentrations, venom-derived peptides can become useful drugs. Although the number of venom-derived peptides that have successfully progressed to the clinic is currently limited, the prospects for venom-derived peptides look very optimistic. As proteomic and transcriptomic approaches continue to identify new sequences, the potential of venom-derived peptides to find applications as therapeutics, cosmetics and insecticides grows accordingly.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2738-2758
Number of pages21
JournalBioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry
Volume26
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2018

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