First Insights into the Venom Composition of Two Ecuadorian Coral Snakes

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2022-11, Vol.23 (23), p.14686
• Main Authors: Hernández-Altamirano, Josselin A, Salazar-Valenzuela, David, Medina-Villamizar, Evencio J, Quirola, Diego R, Patel, Ketan, Vaiyapuri, Sakthivel, Lomonte, Bruno, Almeida, José R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Antivenins; Antivenom; Chromatography; Composition; coral snake; Coral Snakes - metabolism; Ecuador; Elapid Venoms - chemistry; Elapidae - metabolism; Electrophoresis; Fractionation; Gel electrophoresis; Immunology; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Micrurus; Micrurus lemniscatus helleri; Micrurus mipartitus; Molecular weight; Peptides; Phenotypes; Phospholipase A2; Phospholipases A2 - metabolism; Protein families; Proteins; Proteomics; Scientific imaging; Snake Bites; Snake Venoms - metabolism; Snakes; Spectroscopy; Therapeutic applications; three-finger toxins; Toxins; Venom; Venom toxins
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms232314686

is a medically relevant genus of venomous snakes composed of 85 species. Bites caused by coral snakes are rare, but they are usually associated with very severe and life-threatening clinical manifestations. Ecuador is a highly biodiverse country with a complex natural environment, which is home to approximately 20% of identified species. Additionally, it is on the list of Latin American countries with the highest number of snakebites. However, there is no local antivenom available against the Ecuadorian snake venoms, and the biochemistry of these venoms has been poorly explored. Only a limited number of samples collected in the country from the Viperidae family were recently characterised. Therefore, this study addressed the compositional patterns of two coral snake venoms from Ecuador, and , using venomics strategies, integrating sample fractionation, gel electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry. Chromatographic and electrophoretic profiles of these snake venoms revealed interspecific variability, which was ascertained by mass spectrometry. The two venoms followed the recently recognised dichotomic toxin expression trends displayed by species: venom contains a high proportion (72%) of phospholipase A , whereas venom is dominated by three-finger toxins (63%). A few additional protein families were also detected in these venoms. Overall, these results provide the first comprehensive views on the composition of two Ecuadorian coral snake venoms and expand the knowledge of venom phenotypes. These findings open novel perspectives to further research the functional aspects of these biological cocktails of PLA s and 3FTxs and stress the need for the preclinical evaluation of the currently used antivenoms for therapeutic purposes in Ecuador.