Scorpion venom, containing highly toxic, small polypeptides that diffuse rapidly within the patient, causes serious medical problems. Nanobodies, single-domain antigen-binding fragments derived from dromedary heavy-chain antibodies, have a size that closely matches that of scorpion toxins. Therefore these nanobodies might be developed into potent immunotherapeutics to treat scorpion envenoming....

A novel "long chain" toxin BmP09 has been purified and characterized from the venom of the Chinese scorpion Buthus martensi Karsch. The toxin BmP09 is composed of 66 amino acid residues, including eight cysteines, with a mass of 7721.0 Da. Compared with the B. martensi Karsch AS-1 as a Na(+) channel blocker (7704.8 Da), the BmP09 has an exclusive difference in sequence by an oxidative modificat...

buthotus schach is one of the dangers scorpion in iran that belong to the buthidae family. toxins are existing in venom scorpion, modulate the ion channels by blocking or opening the pore of the channel or by altering the voltage gating and useful as pharmacological tools. in the present study, we investigated the effect of venom and its obtained fractions by gel filtrations on electrophysiolog...

The interaction of TiTx gamma, the major toxin in the venom of the scorpion Tityus serrulatus, with its receptor in excitable membranes was studied with the use of 125I-TiTx gamma. This derivative retains biological activity, and its specific binding to both brain synaptosomes and electroplaque membranes from Electrophorus electricus is characterized by a dissociation constant equal to that of ...

The effects of TsIV-5, a toxin isolated from the Brazilian scorpion Tityus serrulatus, on whole-cell and single-channel Na currents were determined in N18 neuroblastoma cells. In whole-cell records at a test potential of -10 mV, external application of 500 nM TsIV-5 slowed inactivation 20-fold and increased peak current by about one-third without changing time-to-peak. Both the steady-state act...

We have isolated a cardiotoxin, denoted jingzhaotoxin-III (JZTX-III), from the venom of the Chinese spider Chilobrachys jingzhao. The toxin contains 36 residues stabilized by three intracellular disulfide bridges (I-IV, II-V, and III-VI), assigned by a chemical strategy of partial reduction and sequence analysis. Cloned and sequenced using 3'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends and 5'-rapid amplif...

A novel HERG channel blocker was isolated from the venom of the scorpion Buthus martensi Karsch, sequenced and characterized at the pharmacological level after chemical synthesis. According to the determined amino acid sequence, the cDNA and genomic genes were then cloned. The genomic gene consists of two exons interrupted by an intron of 65 bp at position -6 upstream from the mature toxin. The...

Death due to scorpion stings is a common event in many countries. Scorpion envenoming syndrome consists of the clinical presentation of pain at the site of sting, nausea, vomiting, sialorrhea, profuse sweating, abdominal pain, tremors, arrhythmias, hypertension, agitation, hyperglycemia, restlessness, prostration, priapism, pulmonary oedema, many other manifestations and may concern the CNS, th...

Animal venom (e.g., scorpion) is a rich source of various protein and peptide toxins with diverse physio-/pharmaco-logical activities, which generally exert their action via target-specific modulation of different ion channel functions. Scorpion venoms are among the most widely-known source of peptidyl neurotoxins used for callipering different ion channels, such as; Na⁺, K⁺, Ca⁺, Cl(-), etc. A...

The solution structure of chlorotoxin, a small toxin purified from the venom of the Leiurus quinquestriatus scorpion, has been determined using 2D 1H NMR spectroscopy. Analysis of the NMR data shows that the structure consists of a small three-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet packed against an alpha-helix, thereby adopting the same fold as charybdotoxin and other members of the short scorpion t...