Title
Immunoprotection elicited in rabbit by a chimeric protein containing B-cell epitopes of Sphingomyelinases D from Loxosceles spp. spiders
Date Issued
19 November 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Souza N.A.
Dias-Lopes C.
Matoso Í.H.G.
de Oliveira C.F.B.
Minozzo J.C.
Felicori L.F.
Insituto de Ciências Biológicas
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
Accidents with venomous animals pose a health issue in Brazil, and those involving brown spiders (Loxosceles sp.) figure between the most frequent ones. The accidental envenomation by brown spiders causes a strong local dermonecrotic effect, which can be followed by systemic manifestations that in some cases lead to death. The production of antivenoms for the treatments of such accidents relies on a variety of animal experiments, from the spider venom extraction to the production of antivenom in horses. In the present work, there is an attempt to reduce and optimize animal experiments with the construction and production of a chimeric protein, named Lil, containing immunodominant epitopes previously mapped from the main proteins of the Loxosceles venom, the Sphingomyelinases D. The Lil protein contains epitopes from Sphinomyelinases D of the three-main species found in Brazil and this chimeric protein was found capable of inducing antibodies with the potential to partially neutralize the toxic effects of Loxosceles intermedia venom in an animal model. Therefore, in order to reduce spider usage and to improve the lifespan of the horses used for immunization we suggest the Lil protein as a potential candidate to replace the venom usage in the antivenom production protocols.
Start page
7324
End page
7330
Volume
36
Issue
48
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencia veterinaria
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85055124539
PubMed ID
Source
Vaccine
ISSN of the container
0264410X
Sponsor(s)
This research was supported by Brazilian Funding Agencies: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus