title: Influence of post-starvation extraction time and prey-specific diet in Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom composition and hyaluronidase activity.
abstract: The role of diet in venom composition has been a topic of intense research interest. This work presents evidence that the variation in the venom composition from the scorpion Tityus serrulatus (Ts) is closely associated with post-starvation extraction time and prey-specific diet. The scorpions were fed with cockroach, cricket, peanut beetle or giant Tenebrio. The venoms demonstrated a pronounced difference in the total protein and toxins composition, which was evaluated by electrophoresis, reversed-phase chromatography, densitometry, hyaluronidase activity and N-terminal sequencing. Indeed, many toxins and peptides, such as Ts1, Ts2, Ts4, Ts5, Ts6, Ts15, Ts19 frag. II, hypotensins 1 and 3, PAPE peptide and peptide 9797 (first described in Ts venom), were all identified in different proportions in the analyzed Ts venoms. This study is pioneer on assessing the influence of the starvation time and the prey diet on hyaluronidase activity as well as to describe a modification of Tricine-gel-electrophoresis to evaluate this enzyme activity. Altogether, this study reveal a large contribution of the extraction time and diet on Ts venom variability as well as present a background to recommend the cockroach diet to obtain higher protein content and the cricket diet to obtain higher hyaluronidase specific activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av. do Café, s/n, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Manuela Berto
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Pucca
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av. do Café, s/n, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda Gobbi
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Amorim
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av. do Café, s/n, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe Augusto
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Cerni
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av. do Café, s/n, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Karla de Castro Figueiredo
authors.initials: Kde C
authors.lastname: Bordon
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av. do Café, s/n, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Iara Aimê
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av. do Café, s/n, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando Antonio Pino
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Anjolette
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av. do Café, s/n, 14040-903, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: ecabraga@fcfrp.usp.br.
authors.forename: Eliane Candiani
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Arantes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D003720:Densitometry; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000737:chemistry*; D012605:Scorpions; D013217:Starvation
chemical_list: D012604:Scorpion Venoms; D006821:Hyaluronoglucosaminidase
keywords: Diet; Hyaluronidase; Ontogenetic variation; Scorpion feeding; Tityus serrulatus; Venom composition