15 research outputs found
Strategies in 'snake venomics' aiming at an integrative view of compositional, functional, and immunological characteristics of venoms
This work offers a general overview on the evolving strategies for the proteomic analysis of snake venoms, and
discusses how these may be combined through diverse experimental approaches with the goal of achieving a
more comprehensive knowledge on the compositional, toxic, and immunological characteristics of venoms.
Some recent developments in this field are summarized, highlighting how strategies have evolved from the mere
cataloguing of venom components (proteomics/venomics), to a broader exploration of their immunological
(antivenomics) and functional (toxicovenomics) characteristics. Altogether, the combination of these complementary
strategies is helping to build a wider, more integrative view of the life-threatening protein cocktails produced by
venomous snakes, responsible for thousands of deaths every year.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad/[BFU2013-42833-P]//EspañaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP
Horse immunization with short-chain consensus α-neurotoxin generates antibodies against broad spectrum of elapid venomous species
Antivenoms are fundamental in the therapy for snakebites. In elapid venoms, there are toxins,
e.g. short-chain α-neurotoxins, which are quite abundant, highly toxic, and consequently play
a major role in envenomation processes. The core problem is that such α-neurotoxins are
weakly immunogenic, and many current elapid antivenoms show low reactivity towards them.
We have previously developed a recombinant consensus short-chain α-neurotoxin (ScNtx)
based on sequences from the most lethal elapid venoms from America, Africa, Asia, and
Oceania. Here we report that an antivenom generated by immunizing horses with ScNtx can
successfully neutralize the lethality of pure recombinant and native short-chain α-neurotoxins,
as well as whole neurotoxic elapid venoms from diverse genera such as Micrurus,
Dendroaspis, Naja, Walterinnesia, Ophiophagus and Hydrophis. These results provide a proof-ofprinciple
for using recombinant proteins with rationally designed consensus sequences as
universal immunogens for developing next-generation antivenoms with higher effectiveness
and broader neutralizing capacity.Universidad de Costa Rica/[741-B7-608]/UCR/Costa RicaDireccion General de Asuntos del Personal Academico/[IN203118]/DGAPA/MéxicoDireccion General de Asuntos del Personal Academico/[IN207218]/DGAPA/MéxicoUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP
Rats show differences in some biomarkers of health when eating diets based on ingredients produced with three different cultivation strategies
Factors associated with concordant estrogen receptor expression at diagnosis and centralized re-assay in a Danish population-based breast cancer study
Associations between echocardiographic manifestations and bacterial species in patients with infective endocarditis: a cohort study
High-throughput immuno-profiling of mamba (Dendroaspis) venom toxin epitopes using high-density peptide microarrays
Snakebite envenoming is a serious condition requiring medical attention and administration of
antivenom. Current antivenoms are antibody preparations obtained from the plasma of animals
immunised with whole venom(s) and contain antibodies against snake venom toxins, but also against
other antigens. In order to better understand the molecular interactions between antivenom antibodies
and epitopes on snake venom toxins, a high-throughput immuno-profiling study on all manually
curated toxins from Dendroaspis species and selected African Naja species was performed based on
custom-made high-density peptide microarrays displaying linear toxin fragments. By detection of
binding for three different antivenoms and performing an alanine scan, linear elements of epitopes
and the positions important for binding were identified. A strong tendency of antivenom antibodies
recognizing and binding to epitopes at the functional sites of toxins was observed. With these results,
high-density peptide microarray technology is for the first time introduced in the field of toxinology
and molecular details of the evolution of antibody-toxin interactions based on molecular recognition of
distinctive toxic motifs are elucidated.Novo Nordisk Foundation/[13OC0005613]/NNF/DinamarcaNovo Nordisk Foundation/[16OC0019248]/NNF/DinamarcaUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Salud::Facultad de Microbiologí