Snake Venomics and Antivenomics of Cape Cobra (Naja nivea) from South Africa: Insights into Venom Toxicity and Cross-Neutralization Activity.

ABSTRACT: Naja nivea (Cape Cobra) is endemic to southern Africa. Envenoming by N. nivea is neurotoxic, resulting in fatal paralysis. Its venom composition, however, has not been studied in depth, and specific antivenoms against it remain limited in supply. Applying a protein decomplexation approach, this study unveiled the venom proteome of N. nivea from South Africa. The major components in the venom are cytotoxins/cardiotoxins (~75.6% of total venom proteins) and alpha-neurotoxins (~7.4%), which belong to the three-finger toxin family. Intriguingly, phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂) was undetected-this is a unique venom phenotype increasingly recognized in the African cobras of the Uraeus subgenus. The work further showed that VINS African Polyvalent Antiven

SUBMITTER: Tan CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9783313 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature