Unveiling the diversity and distribution of Coelotinae (Araneae, Agelenidae) spiders from Chongqing, China

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  Unveiling the diversity and distribution of Coelotinae (Araneae, Agelenidae) spiders from Chongqing, China Abstract This research examines the funnel-web spider subfamily Coelotinae (Araneae, Agelenidae) from karst caves and associated subterranean environments in Chongqing Municipality, China, resulting in the identification of 84 species across 20 genera, which includes nine new genera and 58 new species: Antrocoelotes gen. nov., A. jiangjin sp. nov. (♂♀); genus Coelotes Blackwall, 1841, Coelotes jinyun sp. nov. (♂), C. zhui sp. nov. (♂); Cucullicoelotes gen. nov., C. beibei sp. nov. (♂♀), C. simianshan sp. nov. (♀), C. wuxi sp. nov. (♂♀); Dolabocoelotes gen. nov., D. wanzhou sp. nov. (♂♀), genus Draconarius Ovtchinnikov, 1999, Draconarius acutus-group, D. yu sp. nov. (♂♀), D. yunyang sp. nov. (♂♀), D. zouma sp. nov. (♂♀); Draconarius aspinatus-group, D. cerebriformis sp. nov. (♀), D. fengjie sp. nov. (♀), D. jiangjin sp. nov. (♀), D. pengshui sp. nov. (♀), D. shizhu sp. nov. (...

Characterization of Sodium Channel Peptides Obtained from the Venom of the Scorpion Centruroides bonito

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Characterization of Sodium Channel Peptides Obtained from the Venom of the Scorpion Centruroides bonito

Abstract

Five peptides were isolated from the venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides bonito by chromatographic procedures (molecular weight sieving, ion exchange columns, and HPLC) and were denoted Cbo1 to Cbo5. The first four peptides contain 66 amino acid residues and the last one contains 65 amino acids, stabilized by four disulfide bonds, with a molecular weight spanning from about 7.5 to 7.8 kDa. Four of them are toxic to mice, and their function on human Na+ channels expressed in HEK and CHO cells was verified. One of them (Cbo5) did not show any physiological effects. The ones toxic to mice showed that they are modifiers of the gating mechanism of the channels and belong to the beta type scorpion toxin (β-ScTx), affecting mainly the Nav1.6 channels. A phylogenetic tree analysis of their sequences confirmed the high degree of amino acid similarities with other known bona fide β-ScTx. The envenomation caused by this venom in mice is treated by using commercially horse antivenom available in Mexico. The potential neutralization of the toxic components was evaluated by means of surface plasmon resonance using four antibody fragments (10FG2, HV, LR, and 11F) which have been developed by our group. These antitoxins are antibody fragments of single-chain antibody type, expressed in E. coli and capable of recognizing Cbo1 to Cbo4 toxins to various degrees.


Restano-Cassulini, Rita, Timoteo Olamendi-Portugal, Lidia Riaño-Umbarila, Fernando Z. Zamudio, Gustavo Delgado-Prudencio, Baltazar Becerril, and Lourival D. Possani. 2024. "Characterization of Sodium Channel Peptides Obtained from the Venom of the Scorpion Centruroides bonito" Toxins 16, no. 3: 125. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins16030125