Evaluation in zebrafish model of the toxicity of rhodamine B‐conjugated crotamine, a peptide potentially useful for diagnostics and therapeutics

• Published in: Journal of biochemical and molecular toxicology 2017-11, Vol.31 (11), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Chan, Judy Yuet‐Wa, Zhou, Hefeng, Kwan, Yiu Wa, Chan, Shun Wan, Radis‐Baptista, Gandhi, Lee, Simon Ming‐Yuen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acute toxicity; Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Anticancer properties; Bioavailability; Biological properties; Chemical compounds; Crotalid Venoms - chemistry; Crotalid Venoms - pharmacokinetics; Crotalid Venoms - toxicity; Danio rerio; Embryo, Nonmammalian - drug effects; Embryos; Fluorescent Dyes - chemistry; Fluorescent Dyes - pharmacokinetics; Fungicides; Hatching; Heart - drug effects; Heart - embryology; Heart diseases; Larva - drug effects; Larvae; Locomotion - drug effects; Peptides; Pharmacology; Rhodamine; rhodamine B‐crotamine; Rhodamines - chemistry; Rhodamines - pharmacokinetics; screening of pharmaceuticals; Swimming; Tissue Distribution; Toxicity; Toxicity Tests - methods; Venom; venom‐derived peptides; Vitelline membrane; Yolk; Yolk sac; Zebrafish; Zebrafish - embryology; zebrafish model
• ISSN: 1095-6670; 1099-0461
• DOI: 10.1002/jbt.21964

Crotamine is defensin‐like cationic peptide from rattlesnake venom that possesses anticancer, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties. Despite these promising biological activities, toxicity is a major concern associated with the development of venom‐derived peptides as therapeutic agents. In the present study, we used zebrafish as a system model to evaluate the toxicity of rhodamine B‐conjugated (RhoB) crotamine derivative. The lethal toxic concentration of RhoB‐crotamine was as low as 4 μM, which effectively kill zebrafish larvae in less than 10 min. With non‐lethal concentrations (