Scolopendra viridicornis nigra ANDScolopendra angulata (CENTIPEDE, SCOLOPENDROMORPHA) VENOM PROTEOMICS

RATES B. (1,2), BEMQUERER M. P. (2,3), RICHARDSON M. (4), BORGES M. H. (1,2,4), MORALES R. A. V. (5), DE LIMA M. E. (1,2), PIMENTA A. M. C. (1,2)

(1) Lab. de Venenos e Toxinas Animais, (2) Núcleo de Estudo de Estrutura e Função de Biomoléculas, (3) Lab. de Enzimologia e Fisico-Química de Proteínas, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. (4) Centro de Pesquisa Professor Carlos R. Diniz, Fundação Ezequiel Dias, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil. (5) Institute for Molecular Biosciences - The University of Queensland - Brisbane, Australia.

Centipedes are venomous arthropods responsible for a significant number of non-lethal human envenomations. Despite this, information about the composition and function of their venom contents is scarce. In this study we made efforts to better understand the complexities of the venoms from two Brazilian centipede species (Scolopendra viridicornis nigra andScolopendra angulata). Both venoms were analyzed through a proteomic approach which combined 2D-LC, ESI-Q-TOF/MS, N-terminal sequencing and similarity searching. Comparisons between the LC profiles and the mass compositions of the venoms of the two species are provided. Also, the N-termini of representatives of ten protein/peptide families were successfully sequenced where nine of them showed no significant similarity to other protein sequences deposited in protein databases. A screening for insecto-toxic activities in fractions from S. viridicornis nigra venom has also been performed. Six out of the twelve tested fractions were responsible for clear toxic effects in house flies. This work demonstrates that centipede venoms might be a neglected but important source of new bioactive compounds.

KEY WORDS: Scolopendra; venomic analyses; proteomics.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: FAPEMIG, CNPq, CAPES.

CORRESPONDENCE TO: Adriano Pimenta. LVTA, Bloco O4, Sala 125. ICB/UFMG, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Tel: + 55 031 3499-2638. apimenta@icb.ufmg.br.