Guest Editors
Carol Trim
Canterbury Christ Church University
<p>Dr. Carol Trim is a principal lecturer in Cancer Biology and deputy director of Natural Sciences in the School of SPACES at Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK. Her current research focuses on investigating the effects of venoms on receptor tyrosine kinases implicated in cancer and on utilizing venoms in combination with nanoparticles to explore targeted drug delivery to tumors. She completed her PhD at the University of Kent, where she investigated surrogate markers of drug activity in response to tyrosine kinase inhibitors used in the treatment of lung and breast cancer.</p>
Steve Trim
Ventera Bio
<p>Steve is a co-founder and chief scientific officer of Ventera Bio Ltd, UK. He is a venom peptide expert with more than 16 years of experience and previously served as founder and chief scientific officer of Venomtech Ltd, where he focused on targeting venom peptides to protein targets, including those implicated in cancer. At Venomtech, he pioneered the Targeted Venom Discovery Array (T-VDA™), a platform used to screen numerous cancer-related targets. At Ventera Bio, he leads scientific efforts to develop novel venom-derived peptide biopesticides.</p><p><br></p><p>Prior to founding Venomtech, Steve worked as a drug discovery biologist at Pfizer for 10 years, where he developed expertise in research and drug development. He also serves as chair of the Veterinary Invertebrate Society and the SLAS Automation and Screening in Agri-Tech Topic Interest Group (TIG). Steve is the lead inventor on several peptide-related patents, including technologies for rodenticides and insecticides.</p>
Collection Overview
There have been many advances in new cancer therapeutics; however, many treatments still have intolerable side effects and/or develop resistance over time. New therapies are needed, and scientists are increasingly looking to nature to discover novel approaches. Whole venoms, peptides, or small-molecule mimetics derived from venoms of a range of species, including snakes, scorpions, spiders, jellyfish, and other invertebrates, can be extracted and screened for anticancer effects.
Mammalian cells can be grown in vitro in 2D and 3D culture systems to screen venom components for potential anticancer leads. In addition, in vivo models can be used to evaluate venom components that display inhibitory effects on proliferation and induce apoptosis in cancer cells. Venom components have been shown to target cancer-related pathways, including cell surface receptor kinases and ion channels. Targeting strategies can also be employed to enhance the delivery of venom-derived compounds to tumors.
This Topical Collection aims to provide an overview of the techniques and methodologies used in cancer drug discovery involving venom peptides and small-molecule mimetics derived from venomous animals.