Investigating the therapeutic role of Leuculectin, a C-type lectin from Bothrops leucurus snake venom, in corneal neovascularization

  Investigating the therapeutic role of Leuculectin, a C-type lectin from Bothrops leucurus snake venom, in corneal neovascularization Abstract Pathological corneal neovascularization remains a major therapeutic challenge due to the limited efficacy and safety of currently available antiangiogenic treatments. Although C-type lectins from snake venom possess various biological activities, their potential to modulate pathological ocular angiogenesis has not been explored. This study investigated the antiangiogenic effects of Leuculectin, a C-type lectin isolated from Bothrops leucurus venom using an experimental model of corneal neovascularization (CNV), a HUVEC (human umbilical vein endothelial cell) tube formation assay, and the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. In the HUVEC tube formation assay, Leuculectin demonstrated strong antiangiogenic activity. In the CAM assay, Leuculectin applied at concentrations of 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 μg/mL significantly decreased new ves...

On the identity of Pardosa consimilis Nosek, 1905 with a first description of the male and notes on two related species (Araneae: Lycosidae)

 


On the identity of Pardosa consimilis Nosek, 1905 with a first description of the male and notes on two related species (Araneae: Lycosidae)

Abstract 


More than a hundred years after its description in 1905, the wolf spider Pardosa consimilis Nosek, 1905 was known solely from the original description of a single female, the holotype. In the last decade there were reports of the species from Bulgaria. Several reports followed with possible records of the yet-unknown males but they were not described; these came from four countries at least: North Macedonia, Georgia, Albania and most recently from Iran. Pardosa consimilis belongs to the monticola group and can be assigned to separate albatula-complex. The aim of this article is to provide a description for the male of Pardosa consimilis for the first time and to redescribe the female, in comparison with its closest congeners P. albatula (Roewer, 1951) and P. blanda (C. L. Koch, 1833).

Naumova, M. & Deltshev, C. (2023). On the identity of Pardosa consimilis Nosek, 1905 with a first description of the male and notes on two related species (Araneae: Lycosidae). Zootaxa 5352(4): 553-564. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5352.4.6