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The book scorpion (Chelifer cancroides), which is only a few millimetres in size, is the best-known member of the pseudoscorpions, an order of arachnids, in Central Europe. It hunts house dust mites, dust lice and book lice in living spaces and usually kills pests in beehives with its venom. Hessian researchers have now comprehensively characterized the components of this venom for the first time - and discovered molecules with a strong effect against so-called hospital germs. The results may help to combat difficult-to-treat infectious diseases in the future.

Although they represent a diverse group of arachnids with around 3,000 species worldwide, pseudoscorpions - unlike scorpions - are little known and have hardly been researched as venomous animals. Although they look similar to their larger relatives with their long claws compared to their bodies, their small size of just one to seven millimetres makes it difficult to analyze their venom, which they inject into their prey via venom glands on their claws.

Now, a team of Hessian researchers from the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE-TBG) and other institutions has succeeded for the first time in artificially producing all known members of a family of toxins from the book scorpion (Chelifer cancroides) in the laboratory and investigating their activity. The scientists discovered a surprisingly strong efficacy against a known hospital germ, the so-called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Staphylococci are common bacteria that colonize the skin and mucous membranes in particular. The special feature of MRSA variants is that they are resistant to the antibiotic methicillin and therefore cause infections in humans that are difficult to treat.

The toxin family analyzed had been newly discovered in a previous study when decoding the poison cocktail of the book scorpion and named "Checacine". In order to quickly and efficiently find out more about the mode of action of this previously unknown toxin class, various research groups at the LOEWE Center TBG tested the activity of the toxins against tumor formation, bacteria and inflammation in parallel. The study was published in the journal "iScience".

However, there are still further hurdles to overcome before a possible pharmacological use: "Our data show that, unfortunately, the checacins can also have a certain toxicity for human cells and could possibly cause inflammatory reactions themselves. [...]", explains the co-first author of the study, TBG scientist Dr. Pelin Erkoc, "However, the potential of these active substances can already be clearly seen. According to forecasts, antibiotic-resistant infections could become the leading cause of disease-related death globally in the coming decades. [...] That's why it's important to look for new solutions with unusual ideas," adds Dr. Michael Marner, postdoctoral researcher at Fraunhofer IME-BR and co-author of the paper.

"Animal venoms are a veritable treasure trove of potential drug candidates, but only a small proportion have been investigated so far," emphasizes study leader Dr. Tim Lüddecke, head of the Animal Venomics junior research group at Fraunhofer IME-BR and Justus Liebig University Giessen and member of the LOEWE Center TBG. "In my group, we focus particularly on arachnids. They are, so to speak, the master chemists among venomous animals: Their venoms are particularly complex and pharmacologically promising [...]," summarizes Lüddecke.

Publication in iScience:

Pelin Erkoc, Susanne Schiffmann, Thomas Ulshöfer, Marina Henke, Michael Marner, Jonas Krämer, Reinhard Predel, Till F. Schäberle, Sabine Hurka, Ludwig Dersch, Andreas Vilcinskas, Robert Fürst, Tim Lüddecke

"Determining the pharmacological potential and biological role of linear pseudoscorpion toxins via functional profiling"

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110209  

Contact:

Dr. Tim Lüddecke

Program Area Natural Product Genomics at the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics

and Junior Research Group Animal Venomics at the Bioresources Branch, Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME

Ohlebergsweg 12

35392 Giessen

tim.lueddecke@ime.fraunhofer.de

35392 Gießen

tim.lueddecke@ime.fraunhofer.de