Primary culture of venom glands from the Brazilian armed spider, Phoneutria nigriventer (Araneae, Ctenidae).
Phoneutria spider venoms are a rich source of bioactive components. The limited amounts of crude material available, however, can be considered as a major hindrance for a faster development in the field. In the present study, we attempted to establish primary cultures of venom glands of Phoneutria nigriventer as an alternative, in vitro source of venom. Three different developmental stages were tried as starting materials: whole embryo (inside the cocoon), nymph (early after cocoon hatching) and young adult (1 year after cocoon hatching). The embryonic cells remained in suspension in the primary cultures, with no signs of adhesion or differentiation, for about 6 months. Nevertheless, this culture was useful for the first chromosome C-banding of Phoneutria. An average of 29+/-1 acrocentric chromosomes were found. Striated muscle cells were the only kind of cells in the culture of venom glands from Phoneutria nymphs. The most promising results were achieved with 1-year-old specimens. Besides muscle, adherent epithelial cells were also obtained in culture. Although these cells remained in culture for a short time (up to 48 h) immunochemical analysis of the culture supernatant evidenced the presence of Phoneutria venom components. This can be considered as a first step toward the functional cultures of venom glands of Phoneutria spiders.
Silva
Luciana Maria
LM
Diretoria de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Fundação Ezequiel Dias/DPD, Rua Conde Pereira Carneiro 80, CEP 30510-010, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Lages
Carolina Pereira
CP
Venuto
Thiago
T
Lima
Rebeca Mascarenhas
RM
Diniz
Marcelo Vasconcellos
MV
Valentim
Cláudia L Lage
CL
Baba
Elio Hideo
EH
Pimenta
Paulo Filemon P
PF
Fortes-Dias
Consuelo L
CL
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002875:Chromosomes; D013111:Spider Venoms / Q000378:metabolism*; D013112:Spiders / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*
D013111:Spider Venoms