Synthetic peptides to produce antivenoms against the Cys-rich toxins of arachnids

SILVIA A. CAMPERI; GERARDO ACOSTA; GABRIELA R. BARREDO; LUCÍA C. IGLESIAS-GARCÍA; CLEOPATRA ALVES DA SILVA CALDEIRA; MARÍA C. MARTÍNEZ-CERON; SILVANA L. GIUDICESSI; OSVALDO CASCONE; FERNANDO ALBERICIO

TOXICON

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2020 vol. 6 p. 10038 - 10047

0041-0101

Scorpion and spider envenomation is treated with the appropriate antivenoms, prepared as described by Césaire Auguste Phisalix and Albert Calmette in 1894. Such treatment requires the acquisition and manipulation of arachnid venoms, both very complicated procedures.Most of the toxins in the venoms of spiders and scorpions are extremely stable cysteine-rich peptide neurotoxins. Many strategies have been developed to obtain synthetic immunogens to facilitate the production ofantivenoms against these toxins. For example, whole peptide toxins can be synthesized by solidphase peptide synthesis (SPPS). Also, epitopes of the toxins can be identified and after the chemical synthesis of these peptide epitopes by SPPS, they can be coupled to protein carriers to develop efficient immunogens. Moreover, multiple antigenic peptides with a polylysine core can be designed and synthesized.This review focuses on the strategies developed to obtain synthetic immunogens for the production of antivenoms against the toxic Cys-rich peptides of scorpions and spiders