Novel genes encoding six kinds of three-finger toxins in Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra) and function characterization of two recombinant long-chain neurotoxins.

ABSTRACT: Three-finger toxins are a family of low-molecular-mass toxins (<10 kDa) having very similar three-dimensional structures. In the present study, 19 novel cDNAs coding three-finger toxins were cloned from the venom gland of Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra). Alignment analysis showed that the putative peptides could be divided into six kinds of three-finger toxins: LNTXs (long-chain neurotoxins), short-chain neurotoxins, cardiotoxins (CTXs), weak neurotoxins, muscarinic toxins and a toxin with a free SH group. Furthermore, a phylogenetic tree was established on the basis of the toxin cDNAs and the previously reported similar nucleotide sequences from the same source venom. It indicated that three-finger-toxin genes in O. hannah diverged early in the course of evolution by long- and short-type

SUBMITTER: Li J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1550305 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature