Identification and Synthesis of Epitopes from a Phoneutria Nigriventer Toxin to Produce Immunogens

IGLESIAS-GARCÍA LUCÍA C.; RODRÍGUEZ JÉSICA A.; BARREDO VACCHELLI, GABRIELA R.; MINOIA, JUAN M; ACOSTA, GERARDO; ALBERICIO, FERNANDO; CAMPERI, SILVIA A.

Proceedings of the 36th European and the 12th International Peptide Symposium

Wiley

Año: 2022; p. 45 - 46

The spider Phoneutria nigriventer, lives predominantly in Brazil and in the north of Argentina.Envenoming caused by P. nigriventer constitutes a medical emergency treatable with suitableantivenoms. The availability of venom, necessary for antivenom production is scarce, mainly because these spiders are difficult to capture and handle in the laboratory. New approaches are necessary for a more efficient and economical antivenom production to satisfy national and regional the demands.P. nigriventer venom is composed primarily by cysteine-rich peptide neurotoxins which possess thehigh stable inhibitor cystine knot (ICK) structural motif [1]. Among them, δ-ctenitoxin-Pn2a (UniProt:P29425), also called PnTx2-6, is one of the most toxic neurotoxins for humans and responsible forenvenoming symptoms. Although high toxic, is a poor immunogen due to its high stability, whatimpairs its degradation in the antigen-presenting cells (APC) necessary to initiate the immune response [2].The aim of this work was to identify PnTx2-6 epitopes and design and synthesize immunogens tocomplement the use of crude venoms in the production of antivenom serums in Argentina.