Bioinformatics and multiepitope DNA immunization to design rational snake antivenom.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Snake venom is a potentially lethal and complex mixture of hundreds of functionally diverse proteins that are difficult to purify and hence difficult to characterize. These difficulties have inhibited the development of toxin-targeted therapy, and conventional antivenom is still generated from the sera of horses or sheep immunized with whole venom. Although life-saving, antivenoms contain an immunoglobulin pool of unknown antigen specificity and known redundancy, which necessitates the delivery of large volumes of heterologous immunoglobulin to the envenomed victim, thus increasing the risk of anaphylactoid and serum sickness adverse effects. Here we exploit recent molecular sequence analysis and DNA immunization tools to design more rational toxin-targeted antivenom.

SUBMITTER: Wagstaff SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1472699 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature