Mipartoxin-I, a novel three-finger toxin, is the major neurotoxic component in the venom of the redtail coral snake Micrurus mipartitus (Elapidae)
Guardado en:
| Autores: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | artículo original |
| Fecha de Publicación: | 2012 |
| Descripción: | 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, a-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 mg/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. |
| País: | Kérwá |
| Institución: | Universidad de Costa Rica |
| Repositorio: | Kérwá |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:kerwa.ucr.ac.cr:10669/74496 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041010112004990 https://hdl.handle.net/10669/74496 |
| Palabra clave: | Micrurus mipartoxin coral snake Snake venom |