A novel short neurotoxin, cobrotoxin c, from monocellate cobra (Naja kaouthia) venom: isolation and purification, primary and secondary structure determination, and tertiary structure modeling.

A novel short neurotoxin, cobrotoxin c (CBT C) was isolated from the venom of monocellate cobra (Naja kaouthia) using a combination of ion-exchange chromatography and FPLC. Its primary structure was determined by Edman degradation. CBT C is composed of 61 amino acid residues. It differs from cobrotoxin b (CBT B) by only two amino acid substitutions, Thr/Ala11 and Arg/Thr56, which are not located on the functionally important regions by sequence similarity. However, the LD50 is 0.08 mg/g to mice, i.e. approximately five-fold higher than for CBT B. Strikingly, a structure-function relationship analysis suggests the existence of a functionally important domain on the outside of Loop III of CBT C. The functionally important basic residues on the outside of Loop III might have a pairwise interaction with alpha subunit, instead of gamma or delta subunits of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR).

A Novel Myotoxin from the Venom of Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus.

A novel myotoxin, designated TMPB, was purified from the venom of Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus by Sephadex G-100 superfine gel chromatography and fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). The N-terminal sequence of 24 amino acid residues was determined by protein sequencer. The sequence similarities between TMPB and other two phospholipase A(2) (PLA2s) previously purified from the same venom were 41.7% and 54.2%, respectively, but TMPB showed no detectable PLA(2) hydrolytic activity. Its molecular weight was estimated to be 16 000 by reducing SDS-PAGE and isoelectric point was determined to be 9.2 by isoelectric focusing electrophoresis. TMPB exhibited strong myotoxicity and platelet aggregation inhibiting activity, and the two activities could all be inhibited by heparin.