Biochemical characterisation and substrate-specific proteolytic diversity of venom metalloproteinases in African puff adders

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  By 4028mdk09 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11200575 Biochemical characterisation and substrate-specific proteolytic diversity of venom metalloproteinases in African puff adders Abstract The puff adder ( Bitis arietans ) is a highly venomous viper responsible for many snakebite fatalities in Africa, yet there have been few geographically comprehensive analyses of its venom proteins, particularly of the proteases that play a key role in pathology of envenoming. To address this, we have isolated, identified and characterised the bioactivity of the venom metalloproteases of puff adders obtained from a range of localities. Prominent in all venoms was a PI snake venom metalloproteinase (SVMP), derived from a larger PII precursor. This protein existed as either non-glycosylated (21 kDa) or glycosylated, the latter containing either one (26 kDa) or two N-glycans (30 kDa). All the venoms we tested contained either one or the other form: none had...

Report from the 29th Meeting on Toxinology, “Toxins: From the Wild to the Lab”, Organized by the French Society of Toxinology on 30 November–1 December 2023

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Report from the 29th Meeting on Toxinology, “Toxins: From the Wild to the Lab”, Organized by the French Society of Toxinology on 30 November–1 December 2023

Abstract

The French Society of Toxinology (SFET), which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, organized its 29th annual Meeting (RT29), shared by 87 participants, on 30 November–1 December 2023. The RT29 main theme, “Toxins: From the Wild to the Lab”, focused on research in the field of animal venoms and animal, bacterial, fungal, or plant toxins, from their discovery in nature to their study in the laboratory. The exploration of the functions of toxins, their structures, their molecular or cellular ligands, their mode of action, and their potential therapeutic applications were emphasized during oral communications and posters through three sessions, of which each was dedicated to a secondary theme. A fourth, “miscellaneous” session allowed participants to present recent out-of-theme works. The abstracts of nine invited and 15 selected lectures, those of 24 posters, and the names of the Best Oral Communication and Best Poster awardees, are presented in this report.

Marchot, Pascale, Ziad Fajloun, Christian Legros, Évelyne Benoit, and Sylvie Diochot. 2024. "Report from the 29th Meeting on Toxinology, “Toxins: From the Wild to the Lab”, Organized by the French Society of Toxinology on 30 November–1 December 2023" Toxins 16, no. 3: 147. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins16030147