Molecular, immunological, and biological characterization of Tityus serrulatus venom hyaluronidase: new insights into its role in envenomation.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Scorpionism is a public health problem in Brazil, and Tityus serrulatus (Ts) is primarily responsible for severe accidents. The main toxic components of Ts venom are low-molecular-weight neurotoxins; however, the venom also contains poorly characterized high-molecular-weight enzymes. Hyaluronidase is one such enzyme that has been poorly characterized.

Methods and principal findings

We examined clones from a cDNA library of the Ts venom gland and described two novel isoforms of hyaluronidase, TsHyal-1 and TsHyal-2. The isoforms are 83% identical, and alignment of their predicted amino acid sequences with other hyaluronidases showed conserved residues between evolutionarily distant organisms. We performed gel filtration followed by reversed-phase chromatography to p

SUBMITTER: Horta CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3923731 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature