Toxins 2009, 1(2), 151-161; doi:10.3390/toxins1020151
Article

Comparison of Sea Snake (Hydrophiidae) Neurotoxin to Cobra (Naja) Neurotoxin

Yumiko Komori 1,* email, Masaya Nagamizu 1 , Kei-ichi Uchiya 1 email, Toshiaki Nikai 1 email and Anthony T. Tu 2,* email
1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Meijo University, Nagoya 468-8503, Japan 2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523, USA
* Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 28 October 2009; in revised form: 19 November 2009 / Accepted: 23 November 2009 / Published: 3 December 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurotoxins of Biological Origin)
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Abstract: Both sea snakes and cobras have venoms containing postsynaptic neurotoxins. Comparison of the primary structures indicates many similarities, especially the positions of the four disulfide bonds. However, detailed examination reveals differences in several amino acid residues. Amino acid sequences of sea snake neurotoxins were determined, and then compared to cobra neurotoxins by computer modeling. This allowed for easy comparison of the similarities and differences between the two types of postsynaptic neurotoxins. Comparison of computer models for the toxins of sea snakes and cobra will reveal the three dimensional difference of the toxins much clearer than the amino acid sequence alone.
Keywords: Praescutata viperina toxin; Hydrophiinae toxin; sea snake toxin; amino acid sequence; computer modeling

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MDPI and ACS Style

Komori, Y.; Nagamizu, M.; Uchiya, K.-I.; Nikai, T.; Tu, A.T. Comparison of Sea Snake (Hydrophiidae) Neurotoxin to Cobra (Naja) Neurotoxin. Toxins 2009, 1, 151-161.

AMA Style

Komori Y, Nagamizu M, Uchiya K-I, Nikai T, Tu AT. Comparison of Sea Snake (Hydrophiidae) Neurotoxin to Cobra (Naja) Neurotoxin. Toxins. 2009; 1(2):151-161.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Komori, Yumiko; Nagamizu, Masaya; Uchiya, Kei-ichi; Nikai, Toshiaki; Tu, Anthony T. 2009. "Comparison of Sea Snake (Hydrophiidae) Neurotoxin to Cobra (Naja) Neurotoxin." Toxins 1, no. 2: 151-161.

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