title: Biochemical, pharmacological and genomic characterisation of Ts IV, an alpha-toxin from the venom of the South American scorpion Tityus serrulatus.
abstract: The venom of the scorpion, Tityus serrulatus, was fractionated to investigate the chemical and pharmacological properties of its alpha-toxin content. Three alpha-toxins (Ts III, Ts IV and Ts V) were purified by conventional chromatography (gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography), followed by immunoaffinity chromatography. Competition experiments using reference alpha- and beta-toxins suggested that these alpha-toxins were contaminated with around 0.01% of beta-toxin. The sequence of the first 30 amino acids of Ts IV was established. Using an oligonucleotide probe, a cDNA encoding its precursor was cloned from a venom gland cDNA library. The primary structure deduced from the cDNA nucleotide sequence provides possible explanations for the polymorphism of these three molecules.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biochimie, CNRS URA 1455, Faculté de Médecine secteur Nord, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Martin-Eauclaire
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Céard
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Diniz
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rochat
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Bougis
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D011499:Protein Processing, Post-Translational; D051381:Rats; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D012605:Scorpions / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D011498:Protein Precursors; D012604:Scorpion Venoms; D015222:Sodium Channels