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The complete amino acid sequence of a cytolytic toxin, HmT, isolated from sea anemone Heteractis magnifica was determined. It is composed of 177 amino acid residues and lacks half-cystines. Partial N-terminal sequences of three other cytolysins from Entacmaea quadricolor (EnT) and Stichodactyla mertensii (SmT-1 and SmT-2) were also determined. Comparing these sequences with those of other sea anemone...
In the present study, some biochemical properties and pathological effects of Daboia russelli venom from Burdwan district of West Bengal, eastern India are presented. The clinical features of Russell's viper envenomation observed in patients admitted to Burdwan Medical College & Hospital are also reported. In vitro, whole venom exerts strong trypsin inhibitory, phospholipase A 2 and procoagulant...
Clostridium botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) are zinc dependent endopeptidases which, once internalised into the neuronal cytosol, block neurotransmission by proteolysis of membrane-associated proteins putatively involved in synaptic vesicle docking and fusion with the plasma membrane. Although many studies have used a variety of cellular systems to study the neurotoxins, most require relatively large...
Cloning and functional expression of a synthetic gene encoding huwentoxin-I, a neurotoxin from the Chinese bird spider Selenocosmia huwena. A gene encoding huwentoxin-I, a peptide neurotoxin consisted of 33 amino acid residues from the venom of the Chinese bird spider Selenocosmia huwena, was designed, synthesized and expressed in Escherichia coli as a hybrid protein fused with glutathione S-transferase...
Information on snake bite treatment using plants was collected in three areas of northern Papua New Guinea. Liquid from six plants is either placed topically on the bite site or plant parts (bark) are chewed and the sap is swallowed. However, beside tannins in the bark no secondary metabolites, e.g. alkaloids, steroids, saponins or flavonoids have been detected by thin-layer chromatography in alcoholic...
The brown spider, genus Loxosceles, is becoming of great medical importance, with envenomation (Loxoscelism) occurring throughout the world. The biological activities of the brown spider venom usually include dermonecrotic lesions at the bite site accompanied by hemolytic and haemorrhagic effects and also by renal failure. The objective of the present study was to describe the histology of the venom...
β-Agkistrodotoxin (β-AgTx), a polypeptide purified from the venom of Agkistrodon blomhoffii brevicaudus, is a presynaptic blocker acting on neurotransmitter release. In this work, perineural recording technique was employed to study the effects of β-AgTx on sodium, potassium and calcium currents of mouse motor nerve terminals. The results showed that β-AgTx selectively inhibited Ca 2+ ...
The venom production of the free hunting neotropic spider Cupiennius salei was tested under different breeding conditions. Three groups kept at different temperatures (17, 21 and 25 o C) showed that venom production remained stable within this temperature range, only at a temperature of 15 o C the spiders stopped feeding and venom synthesis. Hunger periods do not have a direct effect...
The venom of the green mamba, Dendroaspis angusticeps, was found to have at least six trace m1-specific toxins that block the binding of 3 H-N-methylscopolamine to cloned m1 muscarinic receptors. Four were isolated by gel filtration, cation exchange HPLC and reversed-phase HPLC and named m1-toxins1-4. Recovery was 180, 90, 20 and 10 μg/g dry venom, respectively. m1-Toxin1 (the original m1-toxin)...
Piperidine alkaloids compose most of the venom of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, and we examined how six of these alkaloids varied across worker size and age. In a colony sampled intensively, the relative abundance of each alkaloid was highly correlated with worker size with one exception, and ratios of saturated to unsaturated alkaloids were positively correlated with worker size...
The microcystin cyanobacterial hepatotoxins represent an increasingly severe global health hazard. Since microcystins are found world wide in drinking water reservoirs concern about the impact on human health has prompted investigations into remedial water treatment methods. This preliminary study investigates the scavenging from water of microcystin-LR by fine-grained particles known to have a high...
The ability of snake venoms to increase vascular permeability and to induce oedema through the release of pharmacologically active substances is well known. We have studied the oedema and vascular permeability induced by Bothrops lanceolatus venom in male Swiss white mice. Paw oedema was induced by the subplantar injection of B. lanceolatus venom (125-1000 ng/paw) and was quantified as the increase...
The toxin, ricin (0.4 μg/μl), was exposed to a range of sodium hypochlorite concentrations. SDS PAGE showed that hypochlorite caused the ricin to smear and decrease in mobility and, ultimately, caused a loss of silver staining. Cytotoxicity assays using dye uptake by Hep2 cells showed that treatment with 3 mM hypochlorite inactivated the ricin. Western blotting and ELISAs showed that binding by polyclonal...
The effects of crotapotin (a non-toxic and non-enzymatic acid polypeptide naturally complexed with phospholipase A 2 ) and heparin on rat paw edema induced by different secretory phospholipases A 2 (sPLA 2 ) have been investigated. The ability of crotapotin to affect the enzymatic activity of the sPLA 2 (s) have also been evaluated. Secretory PLA 2 (s) obtained...
Freeze dried Eupatorium adenophorum leaf powder mixed in rat feed at a level of 25% elicited hepatotoxicity. The affected animals were jaundiced and had marked increase in plasma bilirubin levels and activities of alkaline phosphatase, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase. The liver of intoxicated animals had focal areas of necrosis and bile duct proliferation. Elevation...
The ability of sheep antivenoms, consisting of whole IgG molecules or Fab fragments, to neutralize local hemorrhage, edema and myonecrosis induced by Bothrops asper venom was comparatively studied in mice. The two antivenoms were produced from the same batch of hyperimmune plasma and were adjusted to the same neutralizing potency against these effects in assays where venom and antivenoms were incubated...
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