Proteomic characterization of the thermostable toxins from Naja naja venom

Naja naja snake venom presents abundant thermostable peptides. Many of them possess useful pharmacological activity that may be employed for drug development. For the proteomic characterization of such toxins, in the present study, Naja naja venom solution was heated up to 100°C for 10, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 300 minutes and protein fractions of non-heated and heated venom were analyzed by twodimensional nano-liquid chromatography coupled online with tandem mass spectrometry. After heating for 300 minutes, a total of 32 peptides were still detected in the supernatant. The identified peptides belong to the following groups: cardiotoxins, neurotoxins and cytotoxins. It was found that thermostable peptides are able to preserve their analgesic activity after a long heating time in formalin test. Mice injected with 15 μg/g of 60-minute heated venom or with 25 μg/g of 300-minute heated venom revealed even a better analgesic activity than those treated with lidocaine.