Two novel chloride channel toxins found in the transcriptome the Iranian scorpion Mesobuthus eupeus venom gland

Masoumeh Baradaran¹ Amir Jalali² Hamid Galehdari³ Maryam Naderi Soorki⁴

1) Toxicology Research center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
2) Dept of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Toxicology Research center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
3) Toxicology Research center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
4) Genetics Department, Sciences Faculty, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran

Publication : 4th International Conference On Research Science And Technology(4rstconf.com)
Abstract :
Scorpion venom is an important source of bioactive peptides including of toxins, enzymes, and antimicrobial peptides. Most of them have pharmacological value. Accordingly, molecular characterization of venom components can be a necessary platform for more investigations about them. Here we characterized two new chloride-channel toxins founded in cDNA library of venom Iranian scorpion, Mesobuthus eupeus. cDNA was constructed from RNA extracted from venom gland of Mesobuthus eupeus. With the cloning of cDNA in pSMART2IFD vector and transformation of vectors to E.coli host cells, cDNA library was constructed. By screening the cDNA library sequences of venom, we have identified the cDNA of two chloride channel toxins, meuCl14 and meuCl15. We deposited them in NCBI database and characterized the peptides that they encode. They are 56 and 60 amino-acid peptides. The primary amino acid structures show considerable homology to previously described chloride channel modifiers. A 20-amino-acid signal peptide for meuCl14 and a 24-amino-acid signal peptide for meuCl15 were identified. A transmembrane domain was predicted for both toxins. The secondary structure and some physiochemical properties of both toxins were also presented in this study.
Keywords : Mesobuthus eupeus chloride channel toxin cDNA library scorpion venom gland