Sampaio S V, Coutinho-Netto J, Arantes E C, Marangoni S, Oliveira B, Giglio J R
Departamento de Análises Clínicas, Toxicológicas e Bromatológicas, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
Biochem Mol Biol Int. 1996 Jul;39(4):729-40. doi: 10.1080/15216549600201811.
A detailed procedure for the purification of Tityustoxin-VI, TsTX-VI, from Tityus serrulatus scorpion venom is described. For comparative purposes, a second toxin, CM-VI, obtained from the same fractionation procedure, was analyzed in parallel. Typical biochemical parameters, such as electrophoretic migration, mol.weight, amino acid composition and N-terminal sequence (first 42 amino acid residues out of a total of approx. 60) were determined for both. Our data showed that CM-VI is identical or extremely homologous to gamma-toxin (TsTX-I), the highly toxic major toxin from T. serrulatus venom. TsTX-VI was less toxic, although still effective at inducing an allergic reaction, lacrymation and contraction of the hind legs of mice. Both toxins produced a dose dependent release of the neurotransmitters glutamic acid and gamma aminobutyric acid from rat brain synaptosomes, this effect being blocked by tetrodotoxin.
