The amino acid sequence and position of the free thiol group of a short-chain neurotoxin from common-death-adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) venom.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kim HS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1163351 | biostudies-other | 1981 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:The venom of an Australian elapid snake, the common death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus), was chromatographed on a CM-cellulose CM52 column. One of the neurotoxic components, Acanthophis antarcticus b (toxin Aa b) was isolated in about 9.4% (A280) yield. The complete amino acid sequence of toxin Aa b was elucidated. Toxin Aa b is composed of 73 amino acid residues, with ten half-cystine residues, and has a formula weight of 8135. Toxin Aa b has no histidine or methionine residue in its sequence. The amino acid sequence of toxin Aa b is homologous with those of other neurotoxins with known sequences, although it is novel in having a valine residue at its N-terminus and an arginine residue at position-23, where a lysine residue is found in almost all the so-far-known neurotoxins. Irrespective of the latter replacement, the toxin Aa b is fully active, with an LD50 value (in mice) of 0.13 microgram/g body weight on intramuscular injection.
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Project description:The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world's largest venomous snake and has a widespread geographical distribution throughout Southeast Asia. Despite proteomic studies indicating the presence of postsynaptic neurotoxins in O. hannah venom, there are few pharmacological investigations of these toxins. We isolated and characterized α-elapitoxin-Oh3a (α-EPTX-Oh3a; 7,938 Da), a long-chain postsynaptic neurotoxin, which constitutes 5% of O. hannah venom. α-EPTX-Oh3a (100-300 nM) caused concentration-dependent inhibition of indirect twitches and inhibited contractile responses of tissues to exogenous acetylcholine and carbachol, in the chick biventer cervicis nerve-muscle preparation. The prior incubation of tissues with Thai Red Cross Society King Cobra antivenom (1 ml/0.8 mg) prevented the in vitro neurotoxic effects of α-EPTX-Oh3a (100 nM). The addition of Thai Red Cross Society King Cobra antivenom (1 ml/0.8 mg), at the t90 time point partially reversed the in vitro neurotoxicity of α-EPTX-Oh3a (100 nM). Repeatedly washing the tissue did not allow significant recovery from the in vitro neurotoxic effects of α-EPTX-Oh3a (100 nM). α-EPTX-Oh3a demonstrated pseudo-irreversible antagonism of concentration-response curves to carbachol, with a pA2 of 8.99. De novo sequencing of α-EPTX-Oh3a showed a long-chain postsynaptic neurotoxin with 72 amino acids, sharing 100% sequence identity with Long neurotoxin OH-55. In conclusion, the antivenom is useful for reversing the clinically important long-chain α-neurotoxin-mediated neuromuscular paralysis.
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Project description:The continuous regions for short-neurotoxin binding on the alpha-chains of Torpedo californica (electric ray) and human acetylcholine receptors (AChR) were localized by reaction of 125I-labelled cobrotoxin (Cot) and erabutoxin b (Eb) with synthetic overlapping peptides spanning the entire extracellular part of the respective alpha-chains. On Torpedo AChR, five Cot-binding regions were found to reside within peptides alpha 1-16, alpha 23-38/alpha 34-49 overlap, alpha 100-115, alpha 122-138 and alpha 194-210. The Eb-binding regions were localized within peptides alpha 23-38/alpha 34-49/alpha 45-60 overlap, alpha 100-115 and alpha 122-138. The main binding activity for both toxins resided within region alpha 122-138. In previous studies we had shown that the binding of long alpha-neurotoxins [alpha-bungarotoxin (Bgt) and cobratoxin (Cbt)] involved the same regions on Torpedo AChR as well as an additional region within residues alpha 182-198. Thus region alpha 182-198, which is the strongest binding region for long neurotoxins on Torpedo AChR, was not a binding region for short neurotoxins. On human AChR, peptide alpha 122-138 possessed the highest activity with both toxins, and lower activity was found in the overlap alpha 23-38/alpha 34-49/alpha 45-60 and in peptide alpha 194-210. In addition, peptides alpha 100-115 and alpha 56-71 showed strong and medium binding activities to Eb, but low activity to Cot, whereas peptide alpha 1-16 exhibited low binding to Cot and no binding to Eb. Comparison with previous studies indicated that, for human AChR, the binding regions of short and long neurotoxins were essentially the same. The finding that the region within residues alpha 122-138 of both human and Torpedo AChR possessed the highest binding activity with short neurotoxins indicated that this region constitutes a universal binding site for long and short neurotoxins on AChR from various species.
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Project description:BackgroundDeath adders (Acanthophis spp) are found in Australia, Papua New Guinea and parts of eastern Indonesia. This study aimed to investigate the clinical syndrome of death adder envenoming and response to antivenom treatment.Methodology/principal findingsDefinite death adder bites were recruited from the Australian Snakebite Project (ASP) as defined by expert identification or detection of death adder venom in blood. Clinical effects and laboratory results were collected prospectively, including the time course of neurotoxicity and response to treatment. Enzyme immunoassay was used to measure venom concentrations. Twenty nine patients had definite death adder bites; median age 45 yr (5-74 yr); 25 were male. Envenoming occurred in 14 patients. Two further patients had allergic reactions without envenoming, both snake handlers with previous death adder bites. Of 14 envenomed patients, 12 developed neurotoxicity characterised by ptosis (12), diplopia (9), bulbar weakness (7), intercostal muscle weakness (2) and limb weakness (2). Intubation and mechanical ventilation were required for two patients for 17 and 83 hours. The median time to onset of neurotoxicity was 4 hours (0.5-15.5 hr). One patient bitten by a northern death adder developed myotoxicity and one patient only developed systemic symptoms without neurotoxicity. No patient developed venom induced consumption coagulopathy. Antivenom was administered to 13 patients, all receiving one vial initially. The median time for resolution of neurotoxicity post-antivenom was 21 hours (5-168). The median peak venom concentration in 13 envenomed patients with blood samples was 22 ng/mL (4.4-245 ng/mL). In eight patients where post-antivenom bloods were available, no venom was detected after one vial of antivenom.Conclusions/significanceDeath adder envenoming is characterised by neurotoxicity, which is mild in most cases. One vial of death adder antivenom was sufficient to bind all circulating venom. The persistent neurological effects despite antivenom, suggests that neurotoxicity is not reversed by antivenom.
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Project description:A short-chain neurotoxin Pseudechis australis a (toxin Pa a) was isolated from the venom of an Australian elapid snake Pseudechis australis (king brown snake) by sequential chromatography on CM-cellulose, Sephadex G-50 and CM-cellulose columns. Toxin Pa a has an LD50 (intravenous) value of 76 micrograms/kg body wt. in mice and consists of 62 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence of Pa a shows considerable homology with those of short-chain neurotoxins of elapid snakes, especially of true sea snakes.
| S-EPMC1152888 | biostudies-other
Project description:HxTx-Hv1h, a neurotoxic peptide derived from spider venom, has been developed for use in commercial biopesticide formulations. Cell Penetrating Peptides (CPPs) are short peptides that facilitate the translocation of various biomolecules across cellular membranes. Here, we evaluated the aphidicidal efficacy of a conjugated peptide, HxTx-Hv1h/CPP-1838, created by fusing HxTx-Hv1h with CPP-1838. Additionally, we aimed to establish a robust recombinant expression system for HxTx-Hv1h/CPP-1838. We successfully achieved the secretory production of HxTx-Hv1h, its fusion with Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) forming HxTx-Hv1h/GNA and HxTx-Hv1h/CPP-1838 in yeast. Purified HxTx-Hv1h exhibited contact toxicity against Megoura crassicauda, with a 48 h median lethal concentration (LC50) of 860.5 μg/mL. Fusion with GNA or CPP-1838 significantly enhanced its aphidicidal potency, reducing the LC50 to 683.5 μg/mL and 465.2 μg/mL, respectively. The aphidicidal efficacy was further improved with the addition of surfactant, decreasing the LC50 of HxTx-Hv1h/CPP-1838 to 66.7 μg/mL-over four times lower compared to HxTx-Hv1h alone. Furthermore, we engineered HxTx-Hv1h/CPP-1838 multi-copy expression vectors utilizing the BglBrick assembly method and achieved high-level recombinant production in laboratory-scale fermentation. This study is the first to document a CPP fusion strategy that enhances the transdermal aphidicidal activity of a natural toxin like HxTx-Hv1h and opens up the possibility of exploring the recombinant production of HxTx-Hv1h/CPP-1838 for potential applications.
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