Many venomous species, including snakes, bees and scorpions, contain a variety of secreted phospholipases A₂ (sPLA₂) that contribute to prey digestion and venom toxicity. Based on their primary structures, the different venom sPLA₂ have been classified into four groups I, II, III and IX. While the structure of sPLA₂ groups II and I has been well characterized, only one crystal structure of group III sPLA₂ from bee venom was described. Scorpion venom sPLA₂ belong to group III with a particular heterodimeric structure composed of a long enzymatic chain linked by a disulfide bridge to a Short one after the release of five residues (penta-peptide) during the maturation processes. The function of the Short chain is still not clear. Its sequence varies in composition and in length between different scorpion species. Available studies of the structure-function relationships of scorpion venom sPLA₂ are limited. Some biological activities of these enzymes such as neurotoxicity, myotoxicity, along with the hemolytic, anticoagulant, anti-tumoral and anti-angiogenic activities have been investigated. In this review, we tentatively summarize the last findings about the biochemical properties, the structure-function relation and the biological activities of scorpion venom phospholipases A₂. In addition to expanding the database of structures for these sPLA₂ and understanding their properties and functions, this survey is intended to explore the molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways of the described biological activities.

许多有毒物种，包括蛇，蜜蜂和蝎子，都含有多种分泌的磷脂酶A ₂（sPLA ₂），它们有助于猎物的消化和毒液的毒性。基于它们的主要结构，不同的毒液sPLA ₂已分为I，II，III和IX四类。尽管已经很好地表征了sPLA ₂组II和I的结构，但仅描述了来自蜂毒的III组sPLA _2的一种晶体结构。蝎毒sPLA ₂属于第三类，具有特定的异二聚结构，该结构由在成熟过程中释放五个残基（五肽）后通过二硫键连接到短链的长酶链组成。短链的功能仍然不清楚。它的序列在不同蝎子之间的组成和长度上都不同。蝎毒sPLA ₂的结构-功能关系的可用研究是有限的。已经研究了这些酶的某些生物活性，例如神经毒性，肌毒性，以及溶血，抗凝，抗肿瘤和抗血管生成活性。在这篇综述中，我们初步总结了有关蝎毒磷脂酶A ₂的生化特性，结构-功能关系和生物学活性的最新发现。除了扩展这些sPLA ₂的结构数据库并了解它们的特性和功能外，本次调查还旨在探讨所述生物活性的分子机制和信号传导途径。