Table 1.

The application of nanomaterials in venom research

Nanomaterial	Toxin/Venom	Application
Polyethylenimine-coated hexagonal-phase NaYF(4):Yb,Er/Ce NPs	CTX from Leiurus quinquestriatus scorpion’s venom	Glioma visualization by laser scanning upconversion fluorescence microscopy
Highly stable iron oxide NPs conjugated to CTX and Cy5.5 fluorescent dye	CTX	Near-infrared fluorescence imaging
Amine-functionalized polysilane and supermagnetic iron oxide NPs	CTX	Antitumor drug retarding tumor invasiveness and deactivating membrane-bound MMP2
Supermagnetic iron oxide conjugated with methotrexate and CTX	CTX	Antitumor drug with high cytotoxicity against glioma cells in vitro
Streptavidin-conjugated QDs	Biotinylated alpha-bungarotoxin from Bungarus multicinctus krait’s venom	Visualization of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor in the myocytes
Gold NPs	Snake venom toxin NKCT1	Potential anticancer agent
Polyethylene glycol-grafted distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine NPs conjugated with ImI and loaded with paclitaxel	Alpha-conotoxin ImI from the cone snail Conus imperialis	Targeted antitumor drug
Perfluorocarbon NPs	The cytolytic peptide melittin, derived from bee venom	Antitumor drug with reduced acute toxicity
Gold NPs with radioisotope label	Bombesin from the frog Bombina bombina	Increase in uptake of the drug by tumor cells
Biodegradable poly(D,L-Lactide-co-glycolide) NPs	Bee venom	Prolonged analgesic effect of the venom
Silica NPs	Walterinnesia aegyptia cobra’s venom	Significantly increased antitumor effects of the venom
Poly(D,L-Lactide)-based NPs	Toxic fractions obtained from Androctonus australis hector and Buthusoccitanus tunetanus scorpions’ venoms	Enhanced immune response to weakly immunogenic toxins
Chitosan NPs	Cobra Naja naja oxiana venom	Alternative to the currently used adjuvants

CTX: Chlorotoxin; NPs: Nanoparticles; QDs: Quantum dots; MMP: Matrix metalloproteinase.