Cloning and Characterization of an α-Neurotoxin-Type Protein Specific for the Coral Snake Micrurus corallinus

Oliveira, Jane Silveira de; Silva, Álvaro Rossan de Brandão Prieto da; Soares, Marcelo B.; Stephano, Marco Antônio; Dias, Waldely de Oliveira; Raw, Isaı́as; Ho, Paulo Lee

doi:10.1006/bbrc.1999.2033

Cited by 33 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Most short 3FTx have only four very conserved disulfide bridges but few unrelated toxins show this extra pair of cysteines (Figure 2 ). The second group, named Atg2 (selected as antigen 2, as discussed later), refers to more typical 3FTx, the neurotoxin homologs 7/3/1 (nxh7, nxh3, nxh1 cDNAs), as previously described [ 17 ]. Some of the clusters showed differences in the signal peptide region and some amino acids in the mature protein region.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcriptomic basis for an antiserum against Micrurus corallinus (coral snake) venom

Leão

Junqueira-de-Azevedo

2009

BMC Genomics

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Background: Micrurus corallinus (coral snake) is a tropical forest snake belonging to the family Elapidae. Its venom shows a high neurotoxicity associated with pre-and post-synaptic toxins, causing diaphragm paralysis, which may result in death. In spite of a relatively small incidence of accidents, serum therapy is crucial for those bitten. However, the adequate production of antiserum is hampered by the difficulty in obtaining sufficient amounts of venom from a small snake with demanding breeding conditions. In order to elucidate the molecular basis of this venom and to uncover possible immunogens for an antiserum, we generated expressed sequences tags (ESTs) from its venom glands and analyzed the transcriptomic profile. In addition, their immunogenicity was tested using DNA immunization.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transcriptomic basis for an antiserum against Micrurus corallinus (coral snake) venom

Leão

Junqueira-de-Azevedo

2009

BMC Genomics

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“…The extraordinary biodiversity within the genus Micrurus, with more than 70 species described (Castoe et al, 2007), seems to be also reflected in the wide divergence emerging from the study of their venom toxins. Only a handful of 3FTxs have been fully sequenced and functionally characterized from Micrurus venoms (Rosso et al, 1996;de Oliveira et al, 2000;Dokmetjian et al, 2009;Moreira et al, 2010). Mipartoxin-I, isolated from M. mipartitus venom, is a novel member of the 3FTx superfamily with a potent post-synaptic a-neurotoxic effect on both avian and mammalian neuromuscular preparations, and lethal action in mice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mipartoxin-I, a novel three-finger toxin, is the major neurotoxic component in the venom of the redtail coral snake Micrurus mipartitus (Elapidae)

Rey-Suárez

Floriano

Rostelato‐Ferreira

et al. 2012

Toxicon

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The major venom component of Micrurus mipartitus, a coral snake distributed from Nicaragua to northern South America, was characterized biochemically and functionally. This protein, named mipartoxin-I, is a novel member of the three-finger toxin superfamily, presenting the characteristic cysteine signature and amino acid sequence length of the short-chain, type-I, α-neurotoxins. Nevertheless, it varies considerably from related toxins, with a sequence identity not higher than 70% in a multiple alignment of 67 proteins within this family. Its observed molecular mass (7030.0) matches the value predicted by its amino acid sequence, indicating lack of post-translational modifications. Mipartoxin-I showed a potent lethal effect in mice (intraperitoneal median lethal dose: 0.06 μg/g body weight), and caused a clear neuromuscular blockade on both avian and mouse nerve-muscle preparations, presenting a post-synaptic action through the cholinergic nicotinic receptor. Since mipartoxin-I is the most abundant (28%) protein in M. mipartitus venom, it should play a major role in its toxicity, and therefore represents an important target for developing a therapeutic antivenom, which is very scarce or even unavailable in the regions where this snake inhabits. The structural information here provided might help in the preparation of a synthetic or recombinant immunogen to overcome the limited venom availability.

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“…Their venoms contain low-molecular mass neurotoxins of the three-finger type, which block the neuromuscular junction by binding with high affinity to the cholinergic receptor at the neuromuscular junction, promoting a paralytic effect [7,8,9,10]. In addition, Micrurus venoms contain phospholipase A 2 , which can induce myotoxicity [11,12,13,14], hemorrhage [15], inflammation [16] and presynaptic neurotoxicity [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuromuscular Activity of Micrurus laticollaris (Squamata: Elapidae) Venom in Vitro

Carbajal-Saucedo

Floriano

Belo

et al. 2014

Toxins

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In this work, we have examined the neuromuscular activity of Micrurus laticollaris (Mexican coral snake) venom (MLV) in vertebrate isolated nerve-muscle preparations. In chick biventer cervicis preparations, the MLV induced an irreversible concentration- and time-dependent (1–30 µg/mL) neuromuscular blockade, with 50% blockade occurring between 8 and 30 min. Muscle contractures evoked by exogenous acetylcholine were completely abolished by MLV, whereas those of KCl were also significantly altered (86% ± 11%, 53% ± 11%, 89% ± 5% and 89% ± 7% for one, three, 10 and 30 µg of venom/mL, respectively; n = 4; p < 0.05). In mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm preparations, MLV (1–10 µg/mL) promoted a slight increase in the amplitude of twitch-tension (3 µg/mL), followed by neuromuscular blockade (n = 4); the highest concentration caused complete inhibition of the twitches (time for 50% blockade = 26 ± 3 min), without exhibiting a previous neuromuscular facilitation. The venom (3 µg/mL) induced a biphasic modulation in the frequency of miniature end-plate potentials (MEPPs)/min, causing a significant increase after 15 min, followed by a decrease after 60 min (from 17 ± 1.4 (basal) to 28 ± 2.5 (t15) and 12 ± 2 (t60)). The membrane resting potential of mouse diaphragm preparations pre-exposed or not to d-tubocurarine (5 µg/mL) was also significantly less negative with MLV (10 µg/mL). Together, these results indicate that M. laticollaris venom induces neuromuscular blockade by a combination of pre- and post-synaptic activities.

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Cloning and Characterization of an α-Neurotoxin-Type Protein Specific for the Coral Snake Micrurus corallinus

Cited by 33 publications

References 19 publications

Transcriptomic basis for an antiserum against Micrurus corallinus (coral snake) venom

Transcriptomic basis for an antiserum against Micrurus corallinus (coral snake) venom

Mipartoxin-I, a novel three-finger toxin, is the major neurotoxic component in the venom of the redtail coral snake Micrurus mipartitus (Elapidae)

Neuromuscular Activity of Micrurus laticollaris (Squamata: Elapidae) Venom in Vitro

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