comparison of sea snake (hydrophiidae) neurotoxin to cobra (naja) neurotoxin比较海蛇(海蛇科)神经毒素眼镜蛇神经毒素(眼镜蛇).pdfVIP

Toxins 2009, 1, 151-161; doi:10.3390/toxins1020151 OPEN ACCESS toxins ISSN 2072-6651 /journal/toxins Article Comparison of Sea Snake (Hydrophiidae) Neurotoxin to Cobra (Naja) Neurotoxin Yumiko Komori 1,*, Masaya Nagamizu 1, Kei-ichi Uchiya 1, Toshiaki Nikai 1 and Anthony T. Tu 2,* 1 Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Meijo University, Nagoya 468-8503, Japan; E-Mails: kuchiya@ccmfs.meijo-u.ac.jp (K.U.); nikai@ccmfs.meijo-u.ac.jp (T.N.) 2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, CO 80523, USA * Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mails: ykomori@ccmfs.meijo-u.ac.jp (Y.K.); atucsu@ (A.T.T.). Received: 28 October 2009; in revised form: 19 November 2009 / Accepted: 23 November 2009 / Published: 3 December 2009 Abstract: Both sea snakes and cobras have venoms containing postsynaptic neurotoxins. Comparison of the primary structures indicates many similarities, especially the positions of the four disulfide bonds. However, detailed examination reveals differences in several amino acid residues. Amino acid sequences of sea snake neurotoxins were determined, and then compared to cobra neurotoxins by computer modeling. This allowed for easy comparison of the similarities and differences between the two types of postsynaptic neurotoxins. Comparison of computer models for the toxins of sea snakes and cobra will reveal the three dimensional difference of the toxins much clearer than the amino acid se