PEPTIDE TOXINS FROM BRAZILIAN BIODIVERSITY

KATSUHIRO KONNO(1)

(1)Center for Applied Toxinology, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil

Brazil consists of a great variety of ecosystems, from tropical rain forests to temperate climate, making this country extremely rich in biodiversity. For example, there are approximately 40000 species of wild plants, which accounts for about 10% of all species existing on the planet. It is the case for venomous animals as well. The venomous animals such as snakes, scorpions and spiders often cause envenomation accidents to man, and therefore, they are very important for public health. On the other hand, these venoms can be a rich source of lead compounds for drug discovery as represented by bradykinin potentiating peptides (BPP) from the Bothrops jararaca snake venom. In this context, we have been investigating a variety of animal venoms from Brazilian biodiversity and found several peptide toxins which should be good candidates for drug lead. Reported herein will be a brief summary of our recent results: isolation, sequence determination and biological properties of these peptide toxins with special focus on crotalphine, a novel and potent analgesic peptide from the venom of the South American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus.

KEY WORDS: peptide toxins, Brazilian biodiversity

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: FAPESP, Coinfar.

CORRESPONDENCE TO: KATSUHIRO KONNO, Center for Applied Toxinology, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, Brazil. Tel & Fax:+55-11-3726-1024. Email: kk-gon@butantan.gov.br