ABSTRACT
The increment in the number of scorpion envenoming cases in Mexico is mainly associated to the rapid growth of the urban areas, and consequently, to the invasion of natural habitats of these arachnids. On the other hand, there is a great diversity of scorpion species, so it is indispensable to identify those of medical importance, which we now know are many more than the 7-8 previously reported as dangerous to humans. Because different LD50 values have been reported for the venom of the same species, probably due to variations in the experimental conditions used, in this work we determined the LD50 values for the venoms of 13 different species of scorpions using simple but systematic procedures. This information constitutes a referent on the level of toxicity of medically important scorpion species from Mexico and establishes the bases for a more comprehensive assessment of the neutralizing capacity of current and developing antivenoms.
Subject(s)
Scorpion Venoms/toxicity , Scorpions/classification , Animals , Female , Lethal Dose 50 , Male , Mexico , MiceABSTRACT
The repetitive use of polyacrylamide slab gels for the analysis of oligonucleotides by ultraviolet (UV) shadowing across the complete electrophoresis cassette is addressed. Visualization of the samples is possible by preparing the gel between a quartz plate and a highly sensitive glass fluorescent plate whose preparation is described here. Within a working day, gels can be reloaded up to five times with no detriment to the resolution of the oligonucleotide bands. Taking advantage of this detection approach, we also devised a strategy to reuse gels in the purification of oligonucleotides, combining electroelution and subsequent concentration of the samples using centrifugal filter units.
Subject(s)
Acrylic Resins/chemistry , Chemical Fractionation/methods , Oligonucleotides/isolation & purification , Chemical Fractionation/instrumentation , Electrical Equipment and Supplies , GelsABSTRACT
An allotypic variation at position 25 influences the fibrillogenicity of lambdaVI light chains, which are related to humoral immune response and have been associated with AL amyloidosis. The full resonance assignment and a preliminary structural characterization of 6aJL2(R25G) are reported.