Toxins from Lonomia obliqua — Recombinant Production and Molecular Approach

Stinging caterpillars from the genera Podalia , Leucanella and Lonomia in Misiones, Argentina: A preliminary comparative approach to understand their toxicity

“…In this study, one-dimensional electrophoretic profiles showed many protein band similarities among the Saturniidae bristle extracts (Fig. 2-A); the most striking feature of both Lonomia venoms was the presence of a protein band of ~20 kDa, which is probably related to the prothrombin activator called Lopap (Chudzinski-Tavassi et al, 2013). However, the protein bands in Podalia bristle extract (Fig.…”

“…It is known that the procoagulant activity of crude bristle extract of Brazilian L. obliqua is mainly due to the following two components that are abundant in this venom: Lopap, a prothrombin activator, and Losac (which is identified as hemolin in Table 1), a factor X activator. These procoagulant toxins cause in vivo activation of the coagulation system, which result in a consumptive coagulopathy (Chudzinski-Tavassi et al, 2013). Moreover, this venom promotes fibrin(ogen)olytic activity, which in concert with procoagulant toxins, leads to the hemorrhagic syndrome commonly observed in patients envenomed by L. obliqua (Veiga et al, 2003).…”

“…With the exception of detailed studies of the bristle extract from Brazilian Lonomia obliqua (Chudzinski-Tavassi et al, 2013), other bristle extracts from common caterpillars have not been investigated yet, and therefore their properties and overall venom composition are poorly known. For this reason, we initiated a comparative study of bristle extracts of caterpillars belonging to the families Megalopygidae (Podalia ca.…”

Lonomia obliqua Envenoming and Innovative Research

“…In vitro studies with LOCBE revealed that it has mainly procoagulant activity [43][44][45][46][47][48]. However, several studies have identified in bristles or hemolymph many biological activities that could be associated with the effects observed in patients such as inflammation, leukocyte migration, degradation of extracellular matrix, or even pain.…”

Caterpillar Venom: A Health Hazard of the 21st Century

“…Venom components are then quantified with the results of sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). In this way, the researchers were able to visualize the complexity of the venomous mixture, but usually overlooked the low abundant components [47]. This limitation has sparked the development of refined methods to determine the venomous composition in more detail.…”