β-micrustoxin (Mlx-9), a PLA2 from Micrurus lemniscatus snake venom: biochemical characterization and anti-proliferative effect mediated by p53

Separation and Analytical Techniques Used in Snake Venomics: A Review Article

The deleterious consequences of snake envenomation are due to the extreme protein complexity of snake venoms. Therefore, the identification of their components is crucial for understanding the clinical manifestations of envenomation pathophysiology and for the development of effective antivenoms. In addition, snake venoms are considered as libraries of bioactive molecules that can be used to develop innovative drugs. Numerous separation and analytical techniques are combined to study snake venom composition including chromatographic techniques such as size exclusion and RP-HPLC and electrophoretic techniques. Herein, we present in detail these existing techniques and their applications in snake venom research. In the first part, we discuss the different possible technical combinations that could be used to isolate and purify SV proteins using what is known as bioassay-guided fractionation. In the second part, we describe four different proteomic strategies that could be applied for venomics studies to evaluate whole venom composition, including the mostly used technique: RP-HPLC. Eventually, we show that to date, there is no standard technique used for the separation of all snake venoms. Thus, different combinations might be developed, taking into consideration the main objective of the study, the available resources, and the properties of the target molecules to be isolated.

Pineal Cells Dissociation and Culture: Isolated Pinealocytes, Isolated Astrocytes, and Co-culture

Mammalian pineal glands are composed mostly of pinealocytes, which are the melatonin secretory cells, and also importantly of glial cells in special astrocytes. With the aim of studying the interactions between pinealocytes and astrocytes, the methodologies for obtaining and maintaining isolated pinealocytes and astrocytes in culture were standardized, in addition to the co-culture of both cell types. Some works of our group were published on the interactions between isolated astrocytes and pinealocytes from the pineal gland of Wistar rats, considering the modulatory role of glutamate and angiotensin on the synthesis of melatonin. In this chapter, the methodologies for obtaining and maintaining astrocytes and pinealocytes culture as well as co-culture of these two cell types will be presented.