Senecioylcholine in Heterometrus spinifer scorpion venom activates vertebrate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

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  Senecioylcholine in Heterometrus spinifer scorpion venom activates vertebrate nicotinic acetylcholine receptors Abstract Introduction: Scorpion venoms are natural sources of neurotoxins that primarily modulate the properties of neuronal ion channels, particularly voltage-gated sodium and potassium channels. However, they also contain a variety of small bioactive molecules that have been largely neglected in the omics era of toxinological research. Methods: In the present study, we employed a high-throughput FLIPR screen of arthropod venoms against nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) expressed in the human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell line. Results: The venom of the Malaysian forest scorpion Heterometrus spinifer (family: Scorpionidae) proved to be an agonist of nAChRs, and the small choline ester senecioylcholine was identified as being responsible for the observed effect. Synthetic senecioylcholine and its isomers tigloylcholine and angeloylcholine were not insecticidal wh...

What is animal venom? Rethinking a manipulative weapon

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What is animal venom? Rethinking a manipulative weapon

Abstract

The scientific study of animal venoms covers a broad phylogenetic domain. We argue that the true extent of this domain has been obscured by researchers having overlooked the biological essence of venom. Venoms manipulate the physiological functioning of recipients to produce extended phenotypes that are beneficial to the venom producer and detrimental to its victim. The ability to produce extended phenotypes in living victims, such as prey paralysis, distinguishes venom from saliva. Understanding venom from this perspective substantially broadens the phylogenetic domain of venom to include taxa that use toxic secretions to feed on plants and manipulate sexual partners, and it paves the way for unifying the field of venomics with the fields that study invertebrate–plant interactions and sexual conflict.
Jenner, R. A., Casewell, N. R., & Undheim, E. A. (2025). What is animal venom? Rethinking a manipulative weapon. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2025.05.009