PMID: 9535272Apr 16, 1998Paper

Two novel alpha-neurotoxins isolated from Taiwan cobra: sequence characterization and phylogenetic comparison of homologous neurotoxins

Journal of Protein Chemistry
C C HungS H Chiou

Abstract

Two novel postsynaptic neurotoxins (alpha-neurotoxins) isolated and purified from the Taiwan cobra venom (Naja naja atra) possess distinct primary sequences and different neurotoxicities as compared with the most abundant and lethal component in the venom, i.e., cobrotoxin characterized before from the same venom. The complete sequences of two neurotoxin analogues were determined by N-terminal Edman degradation and comparison of amino acid compositions of proteolytic toxin fragments with other homologous toxins of known sequences. The short-chain neurotoxin consists of 61 amino acid residues with eight conserved cysteine residues and is found to show 78% sequence identity with cobrotoxin. The other toxin, consisting of 65 residues with ten cysteines, belongs to the family of long-chain neurotoxins. It is the first long-chain alpha-neurotoxin reported from the Taiwan cobra. The lethal toxicities of these two novel neurotoxins were much lower than cobrotoxin, albeit with close structural homology among the three toxins in terms of their primary sequences and tertiary structure predicted by homology modeling. Multiple sequence alignment and comparison coupled with construction of a phylogenetic tree for various alpha-neurotoxins o...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 13, 1999·Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications·H F JuanS H Chiou
Sep 27, 2000·Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta·L ChangH Huang

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