Peptides with Diverse Functions from Scorpion Venom: A Great Opportunity for the Treatment of a Wide Variety of Diseases

The venom glands are a rich source of biologically important peptides with a wide range of pharmaceutical properties. Scorpion venoms have been identified as a reservoir for the components which might be considered as great candidates for drug development. These components are usually used by a scorpion to capture prey and defense; however, pharmacological properties of the venom compounds have been confirmed in the treatment of different disorders, including cardiac diseases, autoimmune diseases, infections, and varied cancer types. Ion channel blockers, antimicrobial peptides and proteins, are the main groups of scorpion venom components. Despite several studies exist on the subject of scorpion peptides, there are still valuable components to be discovered. Additionally, owing to the improvement of proteomics and transcriptomics, the number of peptide drugs is steadily increasing, which reflects the importance of it. This review evaluates the available literature about some important scorpion venom peptides with pharmaceutical activities. Given that the last three years have been dominated by the COVID-19 from the medical/pharmaceutical perspective, scorpion compounds with potential against the coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) are also discussed in this review.