The chapter briefly covers the history of protein and peptide neurotoxins in research on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR). It all started with a great help of α-bungarotoxin and other similar α-neurotoxins from snake venoms in isolation from the Torpedo ray electric organ of the muscle-type nAChR as a first individual membrane receptor. The next contribu‐ tion of α-neurotoxins was the ...

Protein expression is a major link in the genotype-phenotype relationship, and processes affecting protein abundances, such as rates of transcription and translation, could contribute to phenotypic evolution if they generate heritable variation. Recent work has suggested that mRNA abundances do not accurately predict final protein abundances, which would imply that post-transcriptional regulato...

Secretory phospholipase A₂ (sPLA₂) is known as a major component of snake venoms and displays higher-order catalytic hydrolysis functions as well as a wide range of pathological effects. Atheris is not a notoriously dangerous genus of snakes although there are some reports of fatal cases after envenomation due to the effects of coagulation disturbances and hemorrhaging. Molecular characterizati...

The myocardial effect of snake venoms is considered as one of the most common pathogenesis in many cases of snake envenomation. This study was under taken to investigate the effects of snake (Naja naja oxiana) venom on cardiac function in experimental animals. The blood samples from all the rabbits were collected before venom injection and then 140 µg/kg venom of snake (Naja naja oxiana) was in...

Snake bite is a major occupational hazard for farm workers and a neglected health problem in India. It is essential to identify the aggressor species either by visual inspection or by symptoms of victim. So, a study was conducted to observe the poisonous effects of deadly venomous snakes are cobra, krait and russell�s viper and discusses the nature, constitution, clinical picture and the treatm...

Phylogenetic analyses of toxin gene families have revolutionised our understanding of the origin and evolution of reptile venoms, leading to the current hypothesis that venom evolved once in squamate reptiles. However, because of a lack of homologous squamate non-toxin sequences, these conclusions rely on the implicit assumption that recruitments of protein families into venom are both rare and...

L-amino acid oxidases are widely found in snake venoms and are thought to contribute to the toxicity upon envenomation. The mechanism of these toxic effects and whether they result from the enzymatic activity are still uncertain although many papers describing the biological and pharmacological effects of L-amino acid oxidases have appeared recently, which provide more information about their a...

Snake venoms are recognized here as a grossly underexplored resource in pharmacological prospecting. Discoveries in snake systematics demonstrate that former taxonomic bias in research has led to the neglect of thousands of species of potential medical use. Recent discoveries reveal an unexpectedly vast degree of variation in venom composition among snakes, from different species down to litter...

Metalloproteinases are abundant enzymes in crotaline and viperine snake venoms. They are relevant in the pathophysiology of envenomation, being responsible for local and systemic hemorrhage frequently observed in the victims. Snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMP) are zinc-dependent enzymes of varying molecular weights having multidomain organization. Some SVMP comprise only the proteinase domai...

Phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)s) are important components of Bothrops snake venoms, that can induce several effects on envenomations such as myotoxicity, inhibition or induction of platelet aggregation and edema. It is known that venomous and non-venomous snakes present PLA(2) inhibitory proteins (PLIs) in their blood plasma. An inhibitory protein that neutralizes the enzymatic and toxic activitie...