title: Isolation and characterization of myrmexins, six isoforms of venom proteins with anti-inflammatory activity from the tropical ant, Pseudomyrmex triplarinus.
abstract: Venom from the tropical ant, Pseudomyrmex triplarinus, has anti-inflammatory properties demonstrated by the carrageenin-induced edema animal mode. A multi-protein complex that inhibits edema was isolated from the venom and was further characterized by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) and amino acid sequencing. Although the complex exhibited a single band in SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, six proteins (isoforms) were resolved and purified to homogeneity and were designated myrmexin I-VI. They have very similar molecular masses between 6998 and 7142 Da. Each myrmexin is a heterodimer consisting of a small subunit (SS1 or SS2 or SS3) disulfide-linked to a larger, quite structurally unrelated subunit (LS1 or LS2). Thus, the myrmexin complex consists of six isoforms of venom proteins: myrmexin I (SS1/LS2), myrmexin II (SS1/LS1), myrmexin III (SS2/LS2), myrmexin IV (SS3/LS2), myrmexin V (SS2/LS1), myrmexin VI (SS3/LS1). Subunit SS1 is highly homologous to SS2 (96% of identity) and SS3 (87% of identity) and LS1 is highly homologous to LS2 (79% of identity). Our study suggests that myrmexins may represent a new class of anti-inflammatory proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-1019, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Hink
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000862:Ant Venoms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002351:Carrageenan; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004487:Edema / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D014329:Tropical Climate
chemical_list: D000862:Ant Venoms; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; C411263:myrmexins; D002351:Carrageenan