Fluorescence spectra of hemorrhagin III from the snake venom of Agkistrodon acutus

Hemorrhagin III (AaH III) was separated and purified from the crude snake venom of Agkistrodon acutus, and its molecule weight was determined accurately to be 23; 284.4 +/- 0.1 by LDI1700-MALDI-TOF-MS. Emission spectra of AaH III showed that Trp residues were located by a great degree in the hydrophobic area. Addition of SDS and guanidine-HCl led to change of the molecular conformation of AaH III, and caused the fluorescence quenching of Trp residues. The red-shifted emission band of AaH III after adding guanidine-HCl showed that Trp residues exposed in polar solvents. The effects of pH, EDTA and metal ions on the fluorescence spectra of AaH III were also investigated.

Application of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in determining arginine esterase from snake venom

Using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The homogeneities and molecular weights of three arginine esterases from snake venom, which possessing therapeutic use in myocardial infarction, were determined and compared, MALDI-TOF-MS is possessed of high accuracy, high sensitivity and rapidity. MALDI-TOF-MS and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) can provide complementary and confirmatory results information. MALDI-TOF-MS can be directly used as an important method for the purification of snake venom complexes successfully.

Purification and characterization of L-amino acid oxidase from Agkistrodon blomhoffii ussurensis snake venom of Changbai Mountains

The L-a. a, oxidase of Agkistrodon blomhof fii ussurensis of Changbai Mountains in northeast of China has been separated by using ion-exchange and gel filtration techniques, This enzyme is composed of two subunits, the molecular weight of one subunit is about 36 000, the another is about 57 000, determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacryamide gel electrophoresis and matrix assisted laser desorption ion/time of flight mass spectrometry, The activity of L-a, a. oxidase determined using L-Leu as substrate. The optimal pH of the enzyme is 4. 5 similar to 5. 5 and 8 similar to 9. The UV-Visible absorption spectrum of L-a, a. oxidase shows the characteristics of flavor-proteins.

FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF THE SNAKE: A LIFE HISTORY OF COBRA MANSA "COBRINHA" MESTRE OF CAPOEIRA

This dissertation is a cultural biography of Mestre Cobra Mansa, a mestre of the Afro-Brazilian martial art of capoeira angola. The intention of this work is to track Mestre Cobrinha's life history and accomplishments from his beginning as an impoverished child in Rio to becoming a mestre of the tradition-its movements, music, history, ritual and philosophy. A highly skilled performer and researcher, he has become a cultural ambassador of the tradition in Brazil and abroad. Following the Trail of the Snake is an interdisciplinary work that integrates the research methods of ethnomusicology (oral history, interview, participant observation, musical and performance analysis and transcription) with a revised life history methodology to uncover the multiple cultures that inform the life of a mestre of capoeira. A reflexive auto-ethnography of the author opens a dialog between the experiences and developmental steps of both research partners' lives. Written in the intersection of ethnomusicology, studies of capoeira, social studies and music education, the academic dissertation format is performed as a roda of capoeira aiming to be respectful of the original context of performance. The result is a provocative ethnographic narrative that includes visual texts from the performative aspects of the tradition (music and movement), aural transcriptions of Mestre Cobra Mansa's storytelling and a myriad of writing techniques to accompany the reader in a multi-dimensional journey of multicultural understanding. The study follows Cinezio Feliciano Pe anha in his childhood struggle for survival as a street performer in Rio de Janeiro. Several key moves provided him with the opportunity to rebuild his life and to grow into a recognized mestre of the capoeira angola martial art as Mestre Cobra Mansa ("Tame Snake" in Portuguese). His dedicated work enabled him to contribute to the revival of the capoeira angola tradition during the 1980's in Bahia. After his move to the United States in the early 1990's, Mestre Cobrinha founded the International Capoeira Angola Foundation, which today has expanded to 28 groups around the world. Mestre Cobra returned home to Brazil to initiate projects that seek to develop a new sense of community from all that he has learned and been able to accomplish in his life through the performance and study of capoeira angola.

Exceptional abundance of the snake pipefish (Entelurus aequoreus) in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean

Pipefish (Syngnathidae) have occurred with unprecedented frequency in Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) samples to the west of the British Isles from 2003 to 2005. Identification by mtDNA sequencing established that they were snake pipefish, Entelurus aequoreus. The geographical range of the records were from the outer continental shelf of the Celtic Sea and north-west of Ireland to the mid-Atlantic Ridge between 40° and 57°N, with the greatest abundance near the shelf edge and adjacent oceanic waters south of Ireland and west of Brittany. There were records in every month from February to November but most were in late spring and summer. A proposed mechanism for the increase in abundance of the species is that recent climate change has had beneficial impacts on the reproduction of adults and the survival of larvae and juveniles.

An increase in snake pipefish (Entelurus aequoreus) in the northeast Atlantic: possible causes and effects

Climate induced changes in the planktonic community have been reported in the North Atlantic in recent years (Beaugrand et al., 2002), and similar responses has been seen in higher trophic levels (eg fish, Brander et al., 2003). Many of these responses have been identified by the use of the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR), and here we discuss recent results from the survey concerning pipefish, numbers of which have increased dramatically around the UK in recent years. This has also been reported in both the scientific and popular press, and anecdotally by many divers. Pipefish are easily recognized, being vermiform with a long slender ‘snout’ and an armoured outer layer, much like an elongated seahorse. This increase has raised many questions, why has it happened and what affects will it have on the ecosystem?

Structural and functional analogs of the novel mammalian neuropeptide, neuromedin S (NmS), in the dermal venoms of Eurasian bombinid toads.

We report the isolation and structural characterization of two neuromedin S (NmS) analogs, (NmS-17 and NmS-33), from the dermal venoms of Eurasian bombinid toads. NmS is a novel neuromedin U (NmU)-related peptide with potent anorexigenic and circadian rhythm-modulating properties recently discovered in mammals. Cloning of NmS precursor-encoding cDNAs from skin venom-derived libraries revealed the presence of a high degree of transcript splice variation comparable to that found previously for NmU in both amphibian skin and mammalian brain. Synthetic replicates of both amphibian NmS peptides evoked robust and dose-dependent transient increases in intracellular calcium ion concentrations in CHO cells that had been stably transfected with either FM-3/GPR66 or FM-4/TGR-1 human NmU receptors. The potency and efficacy of these amphibian skin peptides at such receptors were comparable to those observed with human NmS and rat NmS. These data show that NmS and NmU genes had already diverged at the level of the Amphibia and that differential splicing of their transcribed mRNAs has been highly conserved throughout tetrapod vertebrate evolution indicative of fundamental biological function. NmS is additionally a novel neuropeptide homolog that can be added to the biologically active peptide arsenal of amphibian venom/defensive skin secretions.

Helokinestatin-7 peptides from the venoms of Heloderma lizards

Helokinestatins 1–6 constitute a family of bradykinin antagonist peptides originally isolated from the venoms of the Gila Monster, Heloderma suspectum and the Mexican beaded lizard, Heloderma horridum. Here we report the identification, isolation and preliminary pharmacological characterization of two novel tridecapeptides, named helokinestatin-7S (FDDDSTELILEPR – 1550 Da) and helokinestatin-7H (FDDDSRKLILEPR – 1604 Da), whose primary structures were predicted from cDNAs cloned from venom libraries of respective Heloderma lizards. Computed molecular masses of putative helokinestatin-7 peptides were used as tools to locate these peptides in archived LC/MS fractions from respective venoms and sequences were confirmed by MS/MS fragmentation. A synthetic replicate of helokinestatin-7H was found to antagonize the relaxation effect of bradykinin on rat arterial smooth muscle but to have no measurable effects alone. In contrast, synthetic helokinestatin-7S was found to directly contract this preparation. Studies on related natural peptides with subtle differences in primary structure can provide the tools for structure/activity studies in pharmacological investigations directed toward unraveling the molecular basis of venom toxicity and for the evaluation of potential therapeutic leads.