Title
In vivo protection against Tityus serrulatus scorpion toxins by immunization of mice with a non-toxic protein
Date Issued
26 March 1998
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Fundação Ezequiel Dias
Abstract
The possibility of inducing a humoral immune response able to produce neutralizing antibodies against the lethal effects of scorpion toxins was evaluated in the mouse model. A non-toxic protein (TsNTxP) was purified from the venom of the Brazilian scorpion Tityus serrulatus by combining gel filtration, ion exchange and reverse phase HPLC chromatographic steps. After four injections of TsNTxP the mice developed an IgG response. The anti- TsNTxP antibodies had a comparable high cross-reactivity for the crude venom, toxic fraction (toxic fraction of venom that represents most of the toxicity of the crude venom - TsTFG50) and TsIV, a representative α-type toxin of T. serrulatus, and moderate binding capacity for TsVII, a representative β- type toxin. In vitro neutralization assays indicated that preincubation of a lethal dose of the toxic fraction with immune serum strongly reduced its toxicity. In vivo protection assays showed that mice immunized with TsNTxP resisted a challenge of 10 LD50 (s.c.) of the toxic fraction of T. serrulatus venom.
Start page
333
End page
339
Volume
36
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Inmunología
Toxicología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-0031981795
PubMed ID
Source
Toxicon
ISSN of the container
00410101
Sponsor(s)
Funding text
This research was supported by grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientı́fico e Tecnológico (CNPq). The technical assistance of Dário José de Sousa with the in vivo assays is gratefully acknowledged.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus