MDPI Contact

MDPI AG
St. Alban-Anlage 66,
4052 Basel, Switzerland
Support contact
Tel. +41 61 683 77 34
Fax: +41 61 302 89 18

For more contact information, see here.

Advanced Search

You can use * to search for partial matches.

Search Results

1 article matched your search query. Search Parameters:
Authors = Úrsula Castro de Oliveira

Matches by word:

URSULA (53) , CASTRO (305) , DE (19662) , OLIVEIRA (423)

View options
order results:
result details:
results per page:
Articles per page View Sort by
Displaying article 1-50 on page 1 of 1.
Export citation of selected articles as:
Open AccessArticle Insights into the Hypertensive Effects of Tityus serrulatus Scorpion Venom: Purification of an Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme-Like Peptidase
Toxins 2016, 8(12), 348; doi:10.3390/toxins8120348
Received: 7 October 2016 / Revised: 1 November 2016 / Accepted: 16 November 2016 / Published: 24 November 2016
Viewed by 668 | PDF Full-text (1909 KB) | HTML Full-text | XML Full-text | Supplementary Files
Abstract
The number of cases of envenomation by scorpions has grown significantly in Brazil since 2007, with the most severe cases being caused by the Tityus serrulatus scorpion. Although envenomed patients mostly suffer neurotoxic manifestations, other symptoms, such as hypertension, cannot be exclusively attributed
[...] Read more.
The number of cases of envenomation by scorpions has grown significantly in Brazil since 2007, with the most severe cases being caused by the Tityus serrulatus scorpion. Although envenomed patients mostly suffer neurotoxic manifestations, other symptoms, such as hypertension, cannot be exclusively attributed to neurotoxins. Omics analyses have detected plentiful amounts of metalloproteases in T. serrulatus venom. However, the roles played by these enzymes in envenomation are still unclear. Endeavoring to investigate the functions of scorpion venom proteases, we describe here for the first time an Angiotensin I-Converting Enzyme-like peptidase (ACE-like) purified from T. serrulatus venom. The crude venom cleaved natural and fluorescent substrates and these activities were inhibited by captopril. Regarding the serum neutralization, the scorpion antivenom was more effective at blocking the ACE-like activity than arachnid antivenom, although neither completely inhibited the venom cleavage action, even at higher doses. ACE-like was purified from the venom after three chromatographic steps and its identity was confirmed by mass spectrometric and transcriptomic analyses. Bioinformatics analysis showed homology between the ACE-like transcript sequences from Tityus spp. and human testis ACE. These findings advance our understanding of T. serrulatus venom components and may improve treatment of envenomation victims, as ACE-like may contribute to envenomation symptoms, especially the resulting hypertension. Full article
(This article belongs to the Section Animal Venoms)
Figures

Years

Subjects

Refine Subjects

Journals

Refine Journals

Article Types

Refine Types

Countries

Refine Countries
Back to Top