Two new arthropod toxins purified from the venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides nigrescens

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  Two new arthropod toxins purified from the venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides nigrescens Abstract The venom of the slender black scorpion Centruroides nigrescens , from the State of Guerrero México, was fractionated by Sephadex G–50 gel filtration, followed by carboxymethyl cellulose ion separation and high–performance liquid chromatography, permitting to obtain two new peptides toxic to arthropods. The estimate LD 50 of the soluble venom for the insect Acheta domesticus was 11.1 μg/g body weight, and for the arthropod Armadillidium vulgare was 61.1 μg body weight . The amino acid sequence of toxin Cnige1 (toxic to A. domesticus and A. vulgare ) contains 65 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 7273.37 mass units, whereas toxin Cnige2, toxic to A. domesticus , contains 68 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 7548.81 units. Both peptides are well packed, containing 8 cysteines, which in the native venoms are forming 4 disulfide bridges each. The amino acid sequences f...

The chromosome-level genome of Mesobuthus martensii provides insights into its evolution and the diversity of venom peptides

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The chromosome-level genome of Mesobuthus martensii provides insights into its evolution and the diversity of venom peptides

Abstract

Mesobuthus martensii, the source species of the traditional Chinese medicine “Quanxie”, has long been utilized for its therapeutic properties. Venom peptides are recognized as the major active molecular basis of these pharmacological activities. Despite this, their development as therapeutic agents remains poorly explored. In this study, we performed an integrated multi-omics investigation to systematically explore the venom peptides of Mesobuthus martensii. We generated a chromosome-level genome assembly of Mesobuthus martensii using third-generation sequencing technologies, yielding a genome size of 1.08 Gb with a contig N50 of 46.46 Mb. Integrated genomic and transcriptomic analyses led to the identification of 51 putative novel venom peptide candidates. From the broader venom peptide set, five lysine- and arginine-rich candidates were selected for recombinant expression and functional characterization. Functional evaluation revealed that MmTX67, MmTX106 and MmTX126 modulated coagulation-related parameters in vitro, with MmTX106 further demonstrating the most pronounced antithrombotic effect in vivo. Collectively, these findings provide novel insights into the genetic basis of bioactive substances in “Quanxie” and highlight MmTX106 as the most promising antithrombotic candidate, while providing a molecular foundation for further evaluation of other scorpion venom-derived peptide candidates.
Liu, D., Zeng, Q., Sun, Y., Li, C., Song, Y., Shang, Z., Li, K., Zhu, H., Li, F., Shen, C., & Ju, J. (2026). The chromosome-level genome of Mesobuthus martensii provides insights into its evolution and the diversity of venom peptides. Pharmaceutical Science Advances, 100149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscia.2026.100149