now here is a nice picture to imagine: scorpion venom vs. her2+ breast cancer!

[Lani]

Toxicon. 2010 Sep 30. [Epub ahead of print]
Apoptogenic Peptides From Tityus discrepans Scorpion Venom Acting Against The SKBR3 Breast Cancer Cell Line.
D'Suze G, Rosales A, Salazar V, Sevcik C.

Laboratory on Cellular Neuropharmacology.
Abstract
Two novel peptides named neopladine 1 and neopladine 2 were purified from Tityus discrepans scorpion venom and found to be active on human breast carcinoma SKBR3 cells. Mass spec-trometry molecular masses of neopladine 1 and 2 were 29918 and 30388 Da, respectively. Their N-terminal sequences were determined by Edman degradation. The peptides induced apoptosis of SKBR3 cells but had a negligible effect on non-malignant MA104 monkey kidney cells. Neopladine 1 and 2 induced 6.3 and 4.1% of SKBR3 apoptosis, respectively, in 5hours of exposure; the effect was larger with more prolonged exposures. Inmunohistochemistry showed that neopladines bind to SKBR3 cell surface inducing FasL and BcL-2 expression.

PMID: 20888852