Suitable pattern and high yield were obtained when the reverse-phase performance liquidchromatography (RP-HPLC) was used to separate neurotoxins from venom of Chinese scorpion Buthusmartensi Karsch.Using this techniqu...Suitable pattern and high yield were obtained when the reverse-phase performance liquidchromatography (RP-HPLC) was used to separate neurotoxins from venom of Chinese scorpion Buthusmartensi Karsch.Using this technique,the venom was first separated to two main regions.The toxicitytests show that the insect-selective neurotoxical components are concentrated in the latter region,from whichfive insect-selective neurotoxins designated by BmK IT1-IT5 were obtained.According to the results of thetoxicity test as well as the amino acid composition and N-terminal analyses,BmK IT1 is the excitatory insectneurotoxin as reported in a previous paper,and the others are the newly found depressant insect-selectiveneurotoxins.The molecules of all the four toxins are single-chain minipeptides of about 60 amino acids.Their isoelectric points (pI) are between 8.3 and 8.5.The fact that BmK IT2 loses completely its insect tox-icity after being modified by fluorochrome shows that the positive charges on the molecular surface of thiskind of toxins are important to maintaining the bioactivity of the molecules.展开更多
基金Project supported by a grant from Youth Foundation (388008) to Ji Yong-hua from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the grant-in-aid for overseas scientific research from the Ministry of Education,Science and Culture,Japan.
文摘Suitable pattern and high yield were obtained when the reverse-phase performance liquidchromatography (RP-HPLC) was used to separate neurotoxins from venom of Chinese scorpion Buthusmartensi Karsch.Using this technique,the venom was first separated to two main regions.The toxicitytests show that the insect-selective neurotoxical components are concentrated in the latter region,from whichfive insect-selective neurotoxins designated by BmK IT1-IT5 were obtained.According to the results of thetoxicity test as well as the amino acid composition and N-terminal analyses,BmK IT1 is the excitatory insectneurotoxin as reported in a previous paper,and the others are the newly found depressant insect-selectiveneurotoxins.The molecules of all the four toxins are single-chain minipeptides of about 60 amino acids.Their isoelectric points (pI) are between 8.3 and 8.5.The fact that BmK IT2 loses completely its insect tox-icity after being modified by fluorochrome shows that the positive charges on the molecular surface of thiskind of toxins are important to maintaining the bioactivity of the molecules.