Current Biochemical Applications and Future Prospects of Chlorotoxinin Cancer Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Chlorotoxin (CTX) is a minute 4 kDa protein made up of 36 amino acid residues, commonlyknown for its binding affinity to chloride channels and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)of glioma tumors of the spine and brain. This property and the possibility of conjugating thispeptide to nanoparticles have enabled its diverse use in various biotechnological and biomedicalapplications for cancer treatment, such as in tumor imaging and radiotherapy. Because of thefascinating biological properties CTX possesses, elucidating its mechanism of action may holdpromise for the development of new and effective therapeutic drugs, as well as more sensitiveand highly specific cancer-screening kits. This article therefore reviews the currently knownapplications of CTX and suggests diverse ways in which it can be applied for the design ofimproved drugs and diagnostic tools for cancer.