Snake Venom Components: Tools and Cures to Target Cardiovascular Diseases

Overview

Journal Molecules

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Biology

Date 2021 Apr 30

PMID 33921462

Citations 9

Authors

Jacinthe Frangieh

Mohamad Rima

Ziad Fajloun

Daniel Henrion

Jean-Marc Sabatier

Christian Legros

Cesar Mattei

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are considered as a major cause of death worldwide. Therefore, identifying and developing therapeutic strategies to treat and reduce the prevalence of CVDs is a major medical challenge. Several drugs used for the treatment of CVDs, such as captopril, emerged from natural products, namely snake venoms. These venoms are complex mixtures of bioactive molecules, which, among other physiological networks, target the cardiovascular system, leading to them being considered in the development and design of new drugs. In this review, we describe some snake venom molecules targeting the cardiovascular system such as phospholipase A2 (PLA2), natriuretic peptides (NPs), bradykinin-potentiating peptides (BPPs), cysteine-rich secretory proteins (CRISPs), disintegrins, fibrinolytic enzymes, and three-finger toxins (3FTXs). In addition, their molecular targets, and mechanisms of action-vasorelaxation, inhibition of platelet aggregation, cardioprotective activities-are discussed. The dissection of their biological effects at the molecular scale give insights for the development of future snake venom-derived drugs.

Citing Articles

Snake venom and cerebrovascular events: insights and public health implications.

Vasconez-Gonzalez J, de Lourdes Noboa-Lasso M, Ortiz-Prado E Front Public Health. 2025; 13:1513453.

PMID: 39975792 PMC: 11836001. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1513453.

A review on NLRP3 inflammasome modulation by animal venom proteins/peptides: mechanisms and therapeutic insights.

Balde A, Benjakul S, Nazeer R Inflammopharmacology. 2025; .

PMID: 39934538 DOI: 10.1007/s10787-025-01656-7.

Circumventing the Impossible: Cell-Free Synthesis of Protein Toxins for Medical and Diagnostic Applications.

Woelbern A, Ramm F Int J Mol Sci. 2025; 25(24.

PMID: 39769056 PMC: 11675919. DOI: 10.3390/ijms252413293.

Exploring the Venom Gland Transcriptome of and : De Novo Assembly and Analysis of Novel Toxic Proteins.

Espin-Angulo J, Vela D Toxins (Basel). 2024; 16(12.

PMID: 39728769 PMC: 11728684. DOI: 10.3390/toxins16120511.

Current Technologies in Snake Venom Analysis and Applications.

Roman-Ramos H, Ho P Toxins (Basel). 2024; 16(11).

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