Artículo
en Inglés
| SES-SP, SESSP-IBPROD, SES-SP | ID: but-ib14918
Considering that the scarcity of venom represents a huge challenge for biochemical and functional studies of Micrurus species (coral snakes), in this report we describe for the first time the influence of pilocarpineadministration prior to venom milking on the yield and protein composition of Micrurus corallinus venom. The administration of pilocarpine resulted in an increase of about 127% in the volume of venom milked, with similarprotein content. Venoms showed similarprotein bands distribution and intensity by SDS-PAGE and equivalents RP-HPLC profiles. Our proteomic analysis showed that venoms milked in the presence and absence of pilocarpine presented comparable protein profiles, in terms of protein composition and relative abundance. The toxins identified were assigned to 13 proteinfamilies and represent the most complete M. corallinus venomproteome described so far, in terms of number of proteinfamilies identified. Our data indicate that the administration of pilocarpine prior to venom milking increases the venom yield and does not change significantly the venom composition of M. corallinus. The employment of pilocarpine represents a useful approach to increase the yield of venom not only for Micrurus species, but also for other genera of snakes with limitations regarding the amount of venom available.