Effects of 60Co radiation on the molecular strucure of crotamine

Crotamine is a 4882 daltons basic polypeptide with myotoxic activity. This toxin induces skeletal muscle spasms leading to spastic paralysis of the hind limbs in mice. Ionizing radiation has been successfully employed to attenuate toxins, preserving their immunogenic properties. The molecular altera...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radiation physics and chemistry (Oxford, England : 1993) England : 1993), 2004-09, Vol.71 (1), p.419-420
Main Authors: Casare, M.S, Baptista, J.A, Spencer, P.J, Nascimento, N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crotamine
Gamma radiation
Spectroscopy
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Summary:Crotamine is a 4882 daltons basic polypeptide with myotoxic activity. This toxin induces skeletal muscle spasms leading to spastic paralysis of the hind limbs in mice. Ionizing radiation has been successfully employed to attenuate toxins, preserving their immunogenic properties. The molecular alterations suffered by irradiated biomolecules are not yet fully characterized and much work remains to be done within this field. In the present work, we used crotamine as a model to investigate the effects of gamma radiation on the structure of polypeptides. Toxin samples were irradiated with 400, 2000 or 10,000 Gy, doses at a 5.17 kGy/h dose rate in a gammacell 60Co source. After irradiation, the samples were analyzed by mass spectrometry in positive mode. Also, structural changes were investigated by solvent-mediated quenching and UV spectroscopy.
ISSN:0969-806X
1879-0895
DOI:10.1016/j.radphyschem.2004.03.040