Pessoa Wallace Felipe Blohem, Silva Ludimilla Carvalho Cerqueira, de Oliveira Dias Leila, Delabie Jacques Hubert Charles, Costa Helena, Romano Carla Cristina
State University of Santa Cruz (UESC)-Center of Biotechnology and Genetics (CBG), Ilhéus, Bahia 45662-900, Brazil.
Myrmecology Laboratory of the Cocoa Research Center-CEPEC, Executive Committee of the Cocoa Crop (CEPLAC), Ilhéus, Bahia 45660-000, Brazil.
Int J Mol Sci. 2016 Apr 21;17(4):513. doi: 10.3390/ijms17040513.
Ants cause a series of accidents involving humans. Such accidents generate different reactions in the body, ranging from a mild irritation at the bite site to anaphylactic shock, and these reactions depend on the mechanism of action of the venom. The study of animal venom is a science known as venomics. Through venomics, the composition of the venom of several ant species has already been characterized and their biological activities described. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the protein composition and biological activities (hemolytic and immunostimulatory) of the venom of Neoponera villosa (N. villosa), an ant widely distributed in South America. The protein composition was evaluated by proteomic techniques, such as two-dimensional electrophoresis. To assess the biological activity, hemolysis assay was carried out and cytokines were quantified after exposure of macrophages to the venom. The venom of N. villosa has a profile composed of 145 proteins, including structural and metabolic components (e.g., tubulin and ATPase), allergenic and immunomodulatory proteins (arginine kinase and heat shock proteins (HSPs)), protective proteins of venom (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase) and tissue degradation proteins (hyaluronidase and phospholipase A2). The venom was able to induce hemolysis in human erythrocytes and also induced release of both pro-inflammatory cytokines, as the anti-inflammatory cytokine release by murine macrophages. These results allow better understanding of the composition and complexity of N. villosa venom in the human body, as well as the possible mechanisms of action after the bite.
蚂蚁引发了一系列涉及人类的事故。此类事故在人体中产生不同反应，从叮咬部位的轻微刺激到过敏反应，而这些反应取决于毒液的作用机制。对动物毒液的研究是一门名为毒液组学的科学。通过毒液组学，已经对几种蚂蚁物种的毒液成分进行了表征，并描述了它们的生物活性。因此，本研究的目的是评估广泛分布于南美洲的绒毛新猛蚁（N. villosa）毒液的蛋白质组成和生物活性（溶血和免疫刺激）。通过蛋白质组学技术，如二维电泳来评估蛋白质组成。为了评估生物活性，进行了溶血试验，并在巨噬细胞暴露于毒液后对细胞因子进行定量。绒毛新猛蚁的毒液由145种蛋白质组成，包括结构和代谢成分（如微管蛋白和ATP酶）、变应原性和免疫调节蛋白（精氨酸激酶和热休克蛋白（HSPs））、毒液保护蛋白（超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和过氧化氢酶）以及组织降解蛋白（透明质酸酶和磷脂酶A2）。该毒液能够诱导人红细胞溶血，还能诱导小鼠巨噬细胞释放促炎细胞因子以及抗炎细胞因子。这些结果有助于更好地了解绒毛新猛蚁毒液在人体中的组成和复杂性，以及叮咬后可能的作用机制。
