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Necrotising arachnidism, or skin ulceration due to spider bite, is an unresolved clinical problem in Australia, with both the spiders responsible and disease pathogenesis remaining unclear. We have examined and compared enzymic activity from three species of Australian spiders capable of causing ulceration in humans; the recluse spider (Loxosceles rufescens), the black window spider (Badumna insignis)...
The purification procedure of a hyaluronidase from Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom is described. It involves basically an ion-exchange chromatography on CM-cellulose at pH 7.8 followed by a rechromatography of the active fraction on the same column at pH 4.7. The optima pH and temperature for maximum activity of the isolated enzyme was 6.0 and 40 o C, respectively. Its K M was 69...
Bacteria belonging to the genus Clostridium, both glycolytic and proteolytic, and both pathogenic and non-pathogenic, produce a battery of hydrolytic enzymes to obtain nutrients from various biopolymers. The clostridial hydrolytic enzymes are diverse, and are used or are potentially useful for fundamental and applied research purposes. Among them, enzymes degrading the major components in the extracellular...
Snake envenomation employs three well integrated strategies: prey immobilization via hypotension, prey immobilization via paralysis, and prey digestion. Purines (adenosine, guanosine and inosine) evidently play a central role in the envenomation strategies of most advanced snakes. Purines constitute the perfect multifunctional toxins, participating simultaneously in all three envenomation strategies...
By studying Lonomia obliqua (caterpillar) venom we were able to detect a lytic activity on purified hyaluronic acid. The venom hydrolyses purified chondroitin sulphate, but was unable to degrade either heparan sulphate or dermatan sulphate. Moreover, through purified hyaluronic acid-degrading kinetic assays, we observed that this lytic activity was caused by a hydrolase rather than lyase enzyme. In...
Scorpion venoms are a rich source of enzymes. Some of the enzymes such as phospholipase A 2 , proteolytic enzymes and phosphodiesterase are well characterized. However, hyaluronidase has not been studied extensively. In this paper we describe the purification and characterization of hyaluronidase (Hyaluronate lyase, E.C.3.2.1.35) from the Palamneus gravimanus scorpion venom by a combination...
Spider venom is a complex mixture of protein and peptide toxins. Hyaluronidase a ‘spreading factor’ has not been studied extensively in spider venom. In this paper, we describe the purification and characterization of a hyaluronidase from Hippasa partita venom gland extract. Hyaluronidase (HPHyal) has been purified by the successive chromatography on a Sephadex G-100 and on CM-Sephadex C-25 columns...
Freshwater stingrays (Potamotrygon motoro) are known to cause human accidents through a sting located in its tail. In the State of Goiás, this accident happens especially during the fishing season of the Araguaia River. The P. motoro venom extracted from the sting presented hyaluronidase activity. The enzyme was purified by gel filtration on Sephacryl S-100 and ion-exchange chromatography on SP-Sepharose...
The theraphosid spider genus Vitalius contains several species found in southeastern Brazil. In this work, we used electrostimulation to obtain venom from Vitalius dubius and examined its general composition. Male spiders yielded significantly less (p < 0.05) venom (12.5 ± 0.7 mg of liquid/spider, n = 16; mean ± S.E.M.) than female spiders (25.5 ± 2.0 mg of liquid/spider, n = 11). However, when...
The present study, for the first time, comparatively investigated the enzymatic activities (proteases and hyaluronidases) in the venoms of four Scyphozoan jellyfish species, including Nemopilema nomurai, Rhopilema esculenta, Cyanea nozakii, and Aurelia aurita. For this, various zymographic analyses were performed using assay specific substrates. Interestingly, all the four jellyfish venoms showed...
The venoms of two classes of fish, freshwater stingray (members of the genus Potamotrygon) and stonefish (members of the genus Synanceia), contain not only proteinaceous toxins but also hyaluronidases, which are considered as spreading factors that facilitate the tissue diffusion of toxins by degrading hyaluronan. So far, the freshwater stingray Potamotrygon motoro hyaluronidase and the stonefish...
Hyaluronidases (Hyal) present in the venom of poisonous animals have been considered as “spreading factors” that facilitate a fast penetration of the venom in the prey. We have found that hyaluronidase from the tarantula Brachypelma vagans venom (BvHyal) displays a substrate-specific Hyal activity against hyaluronan. By using a combined strategy based on peptide sequencing and RT-PCR, we have cloned...
Novel Hyaluronidase CcHaseII (33 kDa) of the most dangerous horned viper Cerastes cerastes (Cc) was purified and partial characterized in a set of biochemical assays. CcHaseII was purified by applying a protocol of two successive chromatographic steps; gel filtration on a Sephacryl S-200 and cation exchange chromatography on CM-Sepharose columns. It has specific activity 4000 units/mg protein against...
When considering the proteins and toxins in snake venom one's thoughts generally migrate to the proteinases, neurotoxins and phospholipases since these families of proteins are comprised by many of the toxins found in venom. However as modern proteomic and transcriptomic venom research has abundantly shown snake venoms are complex and containing numerous families of protein beyond the “big three”...
In this study, we describe the cDNA cloning, sequencing, and 3-D structure of the allergen hyaluronidase from Polybia paulista venom (Pp-Hyal). Using a proteomic approach, the native form of Pp-Hyal was purified to homogeneity and used to produce a Pp-specific polyclonal antibody. The results revealed that Pp-Hyal can be classified as a glycosyl hydrolase and that the full-length Pp-Hyal cDNA (1315 bp;...
The role of diet in venom composition has been a topic of intense research interest. This work presents evidence that the variation in the venom composition from the scorpion Tityus serrulatus (Ts) is closely associated with post-starvation extraction time and prey-specific diet. The scorpions were fed with cockroach, cricket, peanut beetle or giant Tenebrio. The venoms demonstrated a pronounced difference...
Hyaluronidases contribute to local and systemic damages after envenoming, since they act as spreading factors cleaving the hyaluronan presents in the connective tissues of the victim, facilitating the diffusion of venom components. Although hyaluronidases are ubiquitous in snake venoms, they still have not been detected in transcriptomic analysis of the Lachesis venom gland and neither in the proteome...
Vespid venom is composed of many bioactive compounds. The venom of the banded tiger wasp (Vespa affinis, or VA) and the great banded wasp (Vespa tropica, or VT)—which are locally found in the northeastern part of Thailand and are well known for their life-threatening venom potency—were comparatively studied in terms of potency, composition and biological activity. Clinical studies that included word-of-mouth...
Diagnostic and therapeutic reagents are unavailable for anaphylaxis arising from stings by Apis dorsata. Venom profiles and cross-reactivity of A. dorsata and Apis mellifera were compared, to ascertain whether venom of A. mellifera can be used for diagnosis in A. dorsata allergy. Both venom profiles were similar by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and SDS-PAGE. Sera of 29 of 30 (96.7%) patients...
Snakebites are a serious health problem in tropical countries. In Brazil, the genus Bothrops (Viperidae family) causes most of the ophidic accidents, characterized by proteolysis and haemorrhage. Snake venoms are rich sources of toxins with great therapeutic and biotechnological potential and omics approaches is a valuable tool for identification of new bioactive components in the venom. In this study,...
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