Chlorotoxin comes from a scorpion called Leiurus quinquestriatus. This scorpion can be found in Israel. Chlorotoxin is comprised of 36 amino acids, which make up a small peptide. This polypeptide contains four disulfide bonds and eight cystines. But chlorotoxin has a secondary form that is made up of 3 beta sheets and an alpha helix. Many have been studying the effects that chlorotoxin has on cancer cells. Some of the ingredients that make up the scorpion venom are histamine, serotonin, histamine releasing factors, bio-polysaccharides and protease inhibitors. This composition of the venom has bound to the excitable cell membranes by choosing where to bind. The many ways that they have achieved this is by either changing chlorotoxin or deriving
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These derivatives were CA4 and CTX-23, these derivatives were used to see what would happen when they were used to treat glioma cells. They derived these peptides from two other peptides which were chlorotoxin and BmKCT 18,19. Then the scientist made the derivatives and through Polymerase chain reaction, they managed to amplify them and put them in a plasmid. Later they became E. coli cells that were purified even further. Later, they used different concentrations of the chlorotoxin derivatives to see how it would affect glioma cell growth. For the experiment, they used mice that were infected with glioma cells the concentration ranged from .5 microliters to 6 microliters. The two chlorotoxin derivatives show that the glioma cell growth was being reduced by 30% to 40%, but CA4 was better than CTX. They also wanted to find out how CA4 and CTX-23 would affect the shape of the glioma cells. How they achieved this is by constantly checking the cytoskeleton and nuclei for 24 hours. They noticed that the cell membrane extensions and filopodia decreased and that the cell size also decreased dramatically by 50% to 60%. The nucleus of the glioma cells got bigger and had a swollen phenotype. The next thing that was observed is the effect that the two derivatives had on the migration of glioma cells compared to the effect of normal chlorotoxin. The observation showed that the two derivatives from chlorotoxin were
These derivatives were CA4 and CTX-23, these derivatives were used to see what would happen when they were used to treat glioma cells. They derived these peptides from two other peptides which were chlorotoxin and BmKCT 18,19. Then the scientist made the derivatives and through Polymerase chain reaction, they managed to amplify them and put them in a plasmid. Later they became E. coli cells that were purified even further. Later, they used different concentrations of the chlorotoxin derivatives to see how it would affect glioma cell growth. For the experiment, they used mice that were infected with glioma cells the concentration ranged from .5 microliters to 6 microliters. The two chlorotoxin derivatives show that the glioma cell growth was being reduced by 30% to 40%, but CA4 was better than CTX. They also wanted to find out how CA4 and CTX-23 would affect the shape of the glioma cells. How they achieved this is by constantly checking the cytoskeleton and nuclei for 24 hours. They noticed that the cell membrane extensions and filopodia decreased and that the cell size also decreased dramatically by 50% to 60%. The nucleus of the glioma cells got bigger and had a swollen phenotype. The next thing that was observed is the effect that the two derivatives had on the migration of glioma cells compared to the effect of normal chlorotoxin. The observation showed that the two derivatives from chlorotoxin were