Venom neutralization by purified bioactive molecules: Synthetic peptide derivatives of the endogenous PLA(2) inhibitory protein PIP (a mini-review)

Abstract

Envenomation due to snakebite constitutes a significant public health problem in tropical and subtropical countries. Antivenom therapy is still the mainstay of treatment for snake envenomation, and yet despite recent research focused on the prospects of using antivenom adjuncts to aid in serotherapy, no new products have emerged so far for therapeutic use. Various methodologies including molecular biology, crystallography, functional and morphological approaches, etc., are employed in the search for such inhibitors with a view to generate molecules that can stop partially or completely the activities of toxic phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) and snake venom metalloproteinase (SvMPs) enzymes at the molecular level. Herein, both natural and synthetic inhibitors derived from a variety of sources including medicinal plants, mammals, marine animals, fungi, bacteria, and from the venom and blood of snakes have been briefly reviewed. Attention has been focused on the snake serum-based phospholipase A(2) inhibitors (PLIs), particularly on the PLI derived from python snake serum (PIP), highlighting the potential of the natural product, PIP, or possible derivatives of it, as a complementary treatment to serotherapy against the inflammation and/or muscle-damaging activity of snake venoms. The data indicate a more efficient pathway for inhibition and blocking the activity of PLA(2)s and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), thus representing a feasible complementary treatment for snakebites. Such information may be helpful for interfering on the biological processes that these molecules are involved in human inflammatory-related diseases, and also for the development of new drugs for treatment of snake envenomation.