Biochemical Characterization of some Toxins from Conus Striatus Venom

Marcelina  Lirazan,; Lpurdes  Cruz,

Biochemical Characterization of some Toxins from Conus Striatus Venom

Abstract:

Crude venom from C. striatus was found to have an LOSO of 8.6 µg protein per gram mouse injected intraperitoneally and an LOSO of 0.8 µg protein per gram carp injected intramuscularly. The minimum paralysis and death times for mice were estimated to be 1.9 and 4.8 min and for carps 0.5 and 3.5 min, respectively. Using fish for bioassay, three toxins were resolved from the venom extract by phosphocellulose chromatography. Lethal peaks eluting at 0.01 M, 0.2M and 0.27M of N-ethylmorpholine acetate buffer which accounted for 7%, 41 % and 52% of total activity recovered from the column were designated as Toxins I, II and 111 respectively. Toxin I appears to be a small acidic peptide (Mr < 1500). On the other hand, Toxins II and 111 behaved as basic polypeptides with molecular weights of around 10,000-14,000 daltons. All toxins were found to be sensitive to heat and (j-mercaptoethanol.

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