Localization of the toxic site of Naja mossambica cardiotoxins: small synthetic peptides express an in vivo lethality

P. Marchot (1) , P.E. Bougis (2) , B. Ceard (3) , J. van Rietschoten (4) , H. Rochat (5)

1 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
2 INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
3 IP - Ingénierie des protéines
4 IJRBIC - Institut Jean Roche - Biologie des interactions cellulaires
5 Biochimie - Ingénierie des protéines

Cardiotoxins are small basic proteins which cause heart failure when they are injected in vivo. In order to better understand their molecular mode of action, short peptides designed on the model of the first loop of the molecule of cardiotoxin IV from Naja mossambica mossambica venom have been synthetized by the solid-phase procedure of Merrifield. These peptides express lethality in mouse when they are injected intravenously. Taking into account the respective molecular weights, they are 3.5 to 5% as toxic as the cardiotoxin. Furthermore, the symptomatology they induce is undistinguishable from that induced by cardiotoxins. These results strongly support our previous hypothesis that the first loop of the molecule is the toxic site of cardiotoxins.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Animal biology

P. Marchot, P.E. Bougis, B. Ceard, J. van Rietschoten, H. Rochat. Localization of the toxic site of Naja mossambica cardiotoxins: small synthetic peptides express an in vivo lethality. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 1988, 153 (2), pp.642-647. ⟨10.1016/s0006-291x(88)81143-4⟩. ⟨hal-03261771⟩