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Phan P, Deshwal A, McMahon TA, Slikas M, Andrews E, Becker B, Kumar TKS. A Review of Rattlesnake Venoms. Toxins (Basel) 2023; 16:2. [PMID: 38276526 PMCID: PMC10818703 DOI: 10.3390/toxins16010002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Venom components are invaluable in biomedical research owing to their specificity and potency. Many of these components exist in two genera of rattlesnakes, Crotalus and Sistrurus, with high toxicity and proteolytic activity variation. This review focuses on venom components within rattlesnakes, and offers a comparison and itemized list of factors dictating venom composition, as well as presenting their known characteristics, activities, and significant applications in biosciences. There are 64 families and subfamilies of proteins present in Crotalus and Sistrurus venom. Snake venom serine proteases (SVSP), snake venom metalloproteases (SVMP), and phospholipases A2 (PLA2) are the standard components in Crotalus and Sistrurus venom. Through this review, we highlight gaps in the knowledge of rattlesnake venom; there needs to be more information on the venom composition of three Crotalus species and one Sistrurus subspecies. We discuss the activity and importance of both major and minor components in biomedical research and drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phuc Phan
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA;
| | - Anant Deshwal
- Department of Biology, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625, USA; (T.A.M.); (M.S.); (E.A.)
| | - Tyler Anthony McMahon
- Department of Biology, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625, USA; (T.A.M.); (M.S.); (E.A.)
| | - Matthew Slikas
- Department of Biology, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625, USA; (T.A.M.); (M.S.); (E.A.)
| | - Elodie Andrews
- Department of Biology, Bradley University, Peoria, IL 61625, USA; (T.A.M.); (M.S.); (E.A.)
| | - Brian Becker
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA;
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Roberts IV, Bukhary D, Valdivieso CYL, Tirelli N. Fibrin Matrices as (Injectable) Biomaterials: Formation, Clinical Use, and Molecular Engineering. Macromol Biosci 2019; 20:e1900283. [PMID: 31769933 DOI: 10.1002/mabi.201900283] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Revised: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
This review focuses on fibrin, starting from biological mechanisms (its production from fibrinogen and its enzymatic degradation), through its use as a medical device and as a biomaterial, and finally discussing the techniques used to add biological functions and/or improve its mechanical performance through its molecular engineering. Fibrin is a material of biological (human, and even patient's own) origin, injectable, adhesive, and remodellable by cells; further, it is nature's most common choice for an in situ forming, provisional matrix. Its widespread use in the clinic and in research is therefore completely unsurprising. There are, however, areas where its biomedical performance can be improved, namely achieving a better control over mechanical properties (and possibly higher modulus), slowing down degradation or incorporating cell-instructive functions (e.g., controlled delivery of growth factors). The authors here specifically review the efforts made in the last 20 years to achieve these aims via biomimetic reactions or self-assembly, as much via formation of hybrid materials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iwan Vaughan Roberts
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK
| | - Deena Bukhary
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.,Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, 21955, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Nicola Tirelli
- Division of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Science, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.,Laboratory of Polymers and Biomaterials, Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Morego 30, 16163, Genova, Italy
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Debono J, Bos MHA, Frank N, Fry B. Clinical implications of differential antivenom efficacy in neutralising coagulotoxicity produced by venoms from species within the arboreal viperid snake genus Trimeresurus. Toxicol Lett 2019; 316:35-48. [PMID: 31509773 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxlet.2019.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2019] [Revised: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 09/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Snake envenomation globally is attributed to an ever-increasing human population encroaching into snake territories. Responsible for many bites in Asia is the widespread genus Trimeresurus. While bites lead to haemorrhage, only a few species have had their venoms examined in detail. We found that Trimeresurus venom causes haemorrhaging by cleaving fibrinogen in a pseudo-procoagulation manner to produce weak, unstable, short-lived fibrin clots ultimately resulting in an overall anticoagulant effect due to fibrinogen depletion. The monovalent antivenom 'Thai Red Cross Green Pit Viper antivenin', varied in efficacy ranging from excellent neutralisation of T. albolabris venom through to T. gumprechti and T. mcgregori being poorly neutralised and T. hageni being unrecognised by the antivenom. While the results showing excellent neutralisation of some non-T. albolabris venoms (such as T. flavomaculaturs, T. fucatus, and T. macrops) needs to be confirmed with in vivo tests, conversely the antivenom failure T. hageni, and the very poor results against T. gumprechti and T. mcgregori, despite being conducted in the ideal scenario of preincubation of antivenom:venom, indicates that the likelihood of clinically relevant cross-reactivity for these species is low (T. gumprechti and T. mcgregori) to non-existent (T. hageni). These same latter three species were also not inhibited by the serine protease inhibitor AEBSF, suggesting that the toxins leading to a coagulotoxic effect in these species are non-serine proteases while in contrast T. albolabris coagulotoxicity was completely impeded by AEBSF, and thus driven by kallikrein-type serine proteases. There was a conspicuous lack of phylogenetic pattern in venom variation, with the most potent venoms (T. albolabris and T. hageni) being distant to each other on the organismal tree, and with the three most divergent and poorly neutralised venoms (T. gumprechti, T. hageni, and T. mcgregori) were also not each others closest relatives. This reinforces the paradigm that the fundamental dynamic evolution of venom results in organismal phylogeny being a poor predictor of venom potency or antivenom efficacy. This study provides a robust investigation on the differential venom effects from a wide range of Trimeresurus species on coagulation, highlighting differential fibrinogenolytic effects, while also investigating the relative antivenom neutralisation capabilities of the widely available Thai Red Cross Green Pit Viper antivenom. These results therefore have immediate, real-world implications for patients envenomed by Trimeresurus species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan Debono
- Venom Evolution Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia
| | - Mettine H A Bos
- Division of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Einthoven Laboratory for Vascular and Regenerative Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | | | - Bryan Fry
- Venom Evolution Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
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Debono J, Bos MHA, Coimbra F, Ge L, Frank N, Kwok HF, Fry BG. Basal but divergent: Clinical implications of differential coagulotoxicity in a clade of Asian vipers. Toxicol In Vitro 2019; 58:195-206. [PMID: 30930232 DOI: 10.1016/j.tiv.2019.03.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2019] [Revised: 03/27/2019] [Accepted: 03/27/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Envenomations by Asian pitvipers can induce multiple clinical complications resulting from coagulopathic and neuropathic effects. While intense research has been undertaken for some species, functional coagulopathic effects have been neglected. As these species' venoms affect the blood coagulation cascade we investigated their effects upon the human clotting cascade using venoms of species from the Azemiops, Calloselasma, Deinagkistrodon and Hypnale genera. Calloselasma rhodostoma, Deinagkistrodon acutus, and Hypnale hypnale produced net anticoagulant effects through pseudo-procoagulant clotting of fibrinogen, resulting in weak, unstable, transient fibrin clots. Tropidolaemus wagleri was only weakly pseudo-procoagulant, clotting fibrinogen with only a negligible net anticoagulant effect. Azemiops feae and Tropidolaemus subannulatus did not affect clotting. This is the first study to examine in a phylogenetic context the coagulotoxic effects of related genera of basal Asiatic pit-vipers. The results reveal substantial variation between sister genera, providing crucial information about clinical effects and implications for antivenom cross-reactivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan Debono
- Venom Evolution Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Mettine H A Bos
- Division of Thrombosis and Hemostasis, Einthoven Laboratory for Vascular and Regenerative Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Francisco Coimbra
- Venom Evolution Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Lilin Ge
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau; State Key Laboratory Cultivation Base for TCM Quality and Efficacy, School of Pharmacy, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, 138 Xianlin Avenue, Qixia District, Nanjing 210046, China
| | | | - Hang Fai Kwok
- Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau.
| | - Bryan G Fry
- Venom Evolution Lab, School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
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Liu S, Marder VJ, Levy DE, Wang SJ, Yang F, Paganini-Hill A, Fisher MJ. Ancrod and fibrin formation: perspectives on mechanisms of action. Stroke 2011; 42:3277-80. [PMID: 21868728 DOI: 10.1161/strokeaha.111.622753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Ancrod, derived from Malayan pit viper venom, has been tested as ischemic stroke treatment in clinical trials with inconsistent results. We studied the actions of ancrod on fibrinolysis pathways in patient plasma samples and endothelial cell culture systems. METHODS We analyzed fibrinogen levels during the first 6 hours of ancrod infusion in patients entered in the Stroke Treatment with Ancrod Trial. For the in vitro study, human brain microvascular endothelial cells incubated with plasminogen or with human brain microvascular endothelial cell-conditioned medium were co-incubated with ancrod and fibrinogen under normal or oxygen-glucose deprivation conditions over 6 hours. RESULTS Fibrinogen levels decreased both in vivo and in vitro. Ancrod generated fibrinopeptide A, caused visible clot formation, and reduced levels of tissue-type plasminogen activator antigen in the human brain microvascular endothelial cell system and in a cell-free system with conditioned media. CONCLUSIONS The in vitro results indicate that ancrod causes local fibrin formation and secondary depletion of tissue-type plasminogen activator by binding to fibrin clot. Ancrod-induced fibrin formation could result in cerebral microvascular occlusion and may explain the suboptimal clinical effects of ancrod in human stroke trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuo Liu
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
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Sajevic T, Leonardi A, Križaj I. Haemostatically active proteins in snake venoms. Toxicon 2011; 57:627-45. [PMID: 21277886 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2011.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 157] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2010] [Revised: 01/06/2011] [Accepted: 01/07/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Snake venom proteins that affect the haemostatic system can cause (a) lowering of blood coagulability, (b) damage to blood vessels, resulting in bleeding, (c) secondary effects of bleeding, e.g. hypovolaemic shock and organ damage, and (d) thrombosis. These proteins may, or may not, be enzymes. We review the data on the most relevant haemostatically active proteinases, phospholipases A₂, L-amino acid oxidases and 5'-nucleotidases from snake venoms. We also survey the non-enzymatic effectors of haemostasis from snake venoms--disintegrins, C-type lectins and three-finger toxins. Medical applications have already been found for some of these snake venom proteins. We describe those that have already been approved as drugs to treat haemostatic disorders or are being used to diagnose such health problems. No clinical applications, however, currently exist for the majority of snake venom proteins acting on haemostasis. We conclude with the most promising potential uses in this respect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Sajevic
- Department of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Levy DE, Trammel J, Wasiewski WW. Ancrod for acute ischemic stroke: a new dosing regimen derived from analysis of prior ancrod stroke studies. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2009; 18:23-7. [PMID: 19110140 DOI: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2008.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2008] [Revised: 06/18/2008] [Accepted: 07/01/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ancrod, a fibrinogen-reducing agent, has been evaluated as treatment beginning within 3 or 6 hours of onset of acute ischemic stroke with inconsistent results. The data sets from these studies provide an opportunity to determine whether ancrod-related variables are associated with efficacy and safety. OBJECTIVE This post hoc analysis of data from the Stroke Treatment with Ancrod Trial (STAT) analyzed ancrod-related variables as potential determinants of efficacy or safety. The resulting hypotheses were then tested in the European STAT (ESTAT) database. METHODS The relationships between ancrod-related variables and the outcomes of efficacy and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) were analyzed using a 3-stage multivariate process. RESULTS Good clinical outcome at 3 months based on the Barthel Index occurred almost twice as often in rapid defibrinogenators (>or=30 mg/dL/h) (52%) as in slow defibrinogenators (26%), with no increase in mortality or symptomatic ICH. Compared with a 20.7% incidence of symptomatic ICH in patients with mean post-9-hour fibrinogen levels less than or equal to 60 mg/dL, symptomatic ICH incidence was 0.8% in those with mean levels greater than 60 mg/dL (with no loss of efficacy). There were no symptomatic ICHs among 220 North American patients with mean levels greater than 70 mg/dL. It was hypothesized that an initial controlled rapid ancrod infusion with mean post-9-hour fibrinogen levels greater than 70 mg/dL would yield superior efficacy and safety. Such ESTAT patients had statistically significant efficacy versus placebo and a marked reduction in the incidence of symptomatic ICH versus patients taking ancrod with lower maintenance fibrinogen levels. CONCLUSION Modifications to ancrod dosing may substantially improve efficacy while reducing the rate of symptomatic ICH.
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Affiliation(s)
- David E Levy
- Neurobiological Technologies Inc, Edgewater, New Jersey 07020, USA.
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