Nurse Thornfinger Poison Decoded: Potential New Avenues for Cancer Therapies
stand: November 14, 2025, 11:00 p.m.
Researchers at Justus liebig University Giessen (JLU) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) have, for the first time, fully deciphered the venom of the nurse thornfinger spider ( Cheiracanthium punctorium), revealing components that could hold promise for future cancer therapies.
The nurse thornfinger is considered the most poisonous spider in Germany,with its bite capable of causing important discomfort requiring medical attention. despite this, the complex composition of its venom remained largely unknown until now. The findings were recently published in the journal Communications Biology.
“We have identified a whole catalog of new, exciting toxins and were able to show how the nurse’s thorn finger can cause such painful poisoning,” explains Dr. Tim Lüddecke, head of the ”Animal Venomics” working group at the Institute of Insect Biotechnology at JLU and first author of the study. The venom contains numerous components designed to attack cell structures, a mechanism similar to that found in bee venom, resulting in strong localized effects.
Unlike many other spiders that utilize venom primarily for prey capture, the nurse thornfinger primarily employs its venom for defensive purposes, specifically to protect its brood. “In contrast to other spiders, the nurse thornfinger primarily uses its venom to defend its brood,” Lüddecke clarifies. This defensive strategy aligns with other species, like bees, that also utilize potent defensive poisons. “Apparently evolution responds to comparable problems with similar biomolecular solutions,even though the respective species are not closely related.”
This discovery opens up new avenues for pharmaceutical research. While spider venom has traditionally been investigated for potential treatments targeting neuronal diseases, the cellular-level attack mechanisms present in the nurse thornfinger’s venom suggest a potential role in combating cell-based diseases like cancer. “However, the range of toxins in the nurse finger that attack cells suggests that they should also be evaluated in the future for active ingredients against cell-based diseases such as cancer,” says Lüddecke.
