Biological and Enzymatic Characterization of Proteases from Crude Venom of the Ant Odontomachus bauri

Toxins

Mariana Ferreira Silva¹  Caroline Martins Mota¹  Vanessa dos Santos Miranda¹  Amanda de Oliveira Cunha¹  Maraísa Cristina Silva¹  Karinne Spirandelli Carvalho Naves³  Fปio de Oliveira²  Deise Aparecida de Oliveira Silva¹  Tiago Wilson Patriarca Mineo¹  Fernanda Maria Santiago¹ 

[1] Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Laboratory of Immunoparasitology “Dr. Mario Endsfeldz Camargo”, Federal University of Uberlândia, Av. Pará 1720, Uberlândia 38400-902, Brazil;Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Laboratory of Biophysics, Federal University of Uberlândia, Av. Pará 1720, Uberlândia 38400-902, Brazil;Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Laboratory of Clinical Bacteriology, Federal University of Uberlândia, Av. Pará 1720, Uberlândia 38400-902, Brazil;

关键词: Odontomachus bauri;    crude venom;    proteases;    Toxoplasma gondii;   

DOI  :  10.3390/toxins7124869

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Hymenoptera venoms constitute an interesting source of natural toxins that may lead to the development of novel therapeutic agents. The present study investigated the enzymatic and biological characteristics of the crude venom of the ant Odontomachus bauri. Its crude venom presents several protein bands, with higher staining for six proteins with gelatinolytic activity (17, 20, 26, 29, 43 and 48 kDa). The crude venom showed high proteolytic activity on azocasein at optimal pH 8.0 and 37 °C. In the presence of protease inhibitors as aprotinin, leupeptin and EDTA, the azocaseinolytic activity was reduced by 45%, 29% and 9%, respectively, suggesting that the enzymes present in the crude venom belong to the three classes of proteases, with the serine proteases in greater intensity. The crude venom degraded the fibrinogen α-chain faster than the β-chain, while the fibrinogen γ-chain remained unchanged. In biological assays, O. bauri venom showed hemolytic and coagulant activity in vitro, and defibrinating activity in vivo. In addition, the venom showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli as well as antiparasitic activity on Toxoplasma gondii infection in vitro. In that sense, this study sheds perspectives for pharmacological applications of O. bauri venom enzymes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.