title: Elapid snake venom analyses show the specificity of the peptide composition at the level of genera Naja and Notechis.
abstract: Elapid snake venom is a highly valuable, but till now mainly unexplored, source of pharmacologically important peptides. We analyzed the peptide fractions with molecular masses up to 10 kDa of two elapid snake venoms-that of the African cobra, N. m. mossambica (genus Naja), and the Peninsula tiger snake, N. scutatus, from Kangaroo Island (genus Notechis). A combination of chromatographic methods was used to isolate the peptides, which were characterized by combining complimentary mass spectrometric techniques. Comparative analysis of the peptide compositions of two venoms showed specificity at the genus level. Three-finger (3-F) cytotoxins, bradykinin-potentiating peptides (BPPs) and a bradykinin inhibitor were isolated from the Naja venom. 3-F neurotoxins, Kunitz/basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI)-type inhibitors and a natriuretic peptide were identified in the N. venom. The inhibiting activity of the peptides was confirmed in vitro with a selected array of proteases. Cytotoxin 1 (P01467) from the Naja venom might be involved in the disturbance of cellular processes by inhibiting the cell 20S-proteasome. A high degree of similarity between BPPs from elapid and viperid snake venoms was observed, suggesting that these molecules play a key role in snake venoms and also indicating that these peptides were recruited into the snake venom prior to the evolutionary divergence of the snakes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Structural Biology of Infection and Inflammation, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg, c/o DESY, Notkestreet 85, Building 22a, Hamburg 22603, Germany. aishamunawar_2001@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Munawar
authors.affiliation: Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6, Hamburg 20146, Germany. trusch@chemie.uni-hamburg.de.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trusch
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Structural Biology of Infection and Inflammation, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg, c/o DESY, Notkestreet 85, Building 22a, Hamburg 22603, Germany. octopus_dofleini@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Dessislava
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Georgieva
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany. d.hildebrand@uke.de.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hildebrand
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany. m.kwiatkowski@uke.de.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kwiatkowski
authors.affiliation: Institute of Organic Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King-Platz 6, Hamburg 20146, Germany. behnken@chemie.uni-hamburg.de.
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Behnken
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany. soeharder@gmx.de.
authors.forename: Sönke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harder
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, IBILCE/UNESP, Rua Cristóvão Colombo 2265, São José do Rio Preto CEP 15054-000, SP Brazil. arni@sjrp.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Raghuvir
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arni
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares, Avenue Lineu Prestes 2242, São Paulo 05508-000, Brazil. pspencer@IPEN.BR.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Martinistraße 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany. hschluet@uke.de.
authors.forename: Hartmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schlüter
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Structural Biology of Infection and Inflammation, Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Hamburg, c/o DESY, Notkestreet 85, Building 22a, Hamburg 22603, Germany. Christian.Betzel@uni-hamburg.de.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Betzel
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001920:Bradykinin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D002918:Chymotrypsin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D004546:Elapid Venoms / Q000737:chemistry*; D017815:Elapidae; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000378:metabolism; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D020860:Subtilisin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014357:Trypsin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004546:Elapid Venoms; D010455:Peptides; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A; D002918:Chymotrypsin; D014357:Trypsin; D020860:Subtilisin; D001920:Bradykinin