A New Chlorotoxin from Mesobuthus eupeus Possessing Insectotoxic Property
Annotatsiya
The role of proteins and peptides in scorpion venoms has been established as one of the primary causes of their toxicity. Establishing their primary structures serves to extend fundamental knowledge. Mesobuthus eupeus is one widely spread scorpion species in the Central Asian region. In this work, the toxicities of various fractions were compared to find the one with more significant potential. The toxicities of venom fractions of M. eupeus on various insects were studied by sending them in various doses. We also isolated a pure peptide from one of those fractions. A new sequence of amino acids purified from M. eupeus was found to belong to chlorotoxins. The structure was established by mass spectral analysis. The peptide with a MW 3830,52 consisting of 36 amino acids and eight cysteine residues, was found to belong to chlorotoxins that inhibit K+ channels.