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Rivera‐de‐Torre E, Lampadariou S, Møiniche M, Bohn MF, Kazemi SM, Laustsen AH. Discovery of broadly-neutralizing antibodies against brown recluse spider and Gadim scorpion sphingomyelinases using consensus toxins as antigens. Protein Sci 2024; 33:e4901. [PMID: 38358130 PMCID: PMC10868436 DOI: 10.1002/pro.4901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 01/01/2024] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Broadly-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies are becoming increasingly important tools for treating infectious diseases and animal envenomings. However, designing and developing broadly-neutralizing antibodies can be cumbersome using traditional low-throughput iterative protein engineering methods. Here, we present a new high-throughput approach for the standardized discovery of broadly-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies relying on phage display technology and consensus antigens representing average sequences of related proteins. We showcase the utility of this approach by applying it to toxic sphingomyelinases from the venoms of species from very distant orders of the animal kingdom, the recluse spider and Gadim scorpion. First, we designed a consensus sphingomyelinase and performed three rounds of phage display selection, followed by DELFIA-based screening and ranking, and benchmarked this to a similar campaign involving cross-panning against recombinant versions of the native toxins. Second, we identified two scFvs that not only bind the consensus toxins, but which can also neutralize sphingomyelinase activity of native whole venom in vitro. Finally, we conclude that the phage display campaign involving the use of the consensus toxin was more successful in yielding cross-neutralizing scFvs than the phage display campaign involving cross-panning.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stefanos Lampadariou
- Department of Biotechnology and BiomedicineTechnical University of DenmarkKongens LyngbyDenmark
| | - Mark Møiniche
- Department of Biotechnology and BiomedicineTechnical University of DenmarkKongens LyngbyDenmark
| | - Markus F. Bohn
- Department of Biotechnology and BiomedicineTechnical University of DenmarkKongens LyngbyDenmark
| | | | - Andreas H. Laustsen
- Department of Biotechnology and BiomedicineTechnical University of DenmarkKongens LyngbyDenmark
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2
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Jalali A, Mohajer S, Jowkar Z, Kazemi SM. The need to expand cover of polyvalent snake antivenom in Iran. Toxicon 2024; 238:107585. [PMID: 38145880 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 12/27/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Amir Jalali
- Department of Applied Cellular Sciences and Tissue Engineering, Langroud School of Allied Medical Sciences, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
| | - Sedigheh Mohajer
- General ICU, Poursina Medical and Educational Center, Rasht, Guilan, Iran
| | - Zahra Jowkar
- Department of English Language and Literature, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Seyed Mahdi Kazemi
- Zagros Herpetological Institute, 37156-88415, P. O. No 12, Somayyeh 14 Avenue, Qom, Iran.
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3
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Kazemi SM, Hosseinzadeh MS, Weinstein SA. Identifying the geographic distribution pattern of venomous snakes and regions of high snakebite risk in Iran. Toxicon 2023; 231:107197. [PMID: 37321410 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
We describe species richness patterns of venomous snakes in Iran in order to produce snakebite risk prediction maps and identify gaps in regional health care centers capable of managing snakebites. We digitized distribution maps from the literature, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), and the results of our own field studies of 24 terrestrial venomous snake species (including 4 endemic to Iran). Species richness patterns were associated with eight environmental factors. The variables have been extracted from the WorldClim dataset (bio12 = annual precipitation, bio15 = precipitation seasonality, bio17 = precipitation of the driest quarter, bio2 = mean diurnal range, bio3 = isothermality (bio2/bio7), bio4 = temperature seasonality, bio9 = mean temperature of the driest quarter and slope). Based on spatial analyses, species richness in Iran is highly affected by three environmental variables (bio12, 15, and 17) associated with precipitation. The relationship patterns among these predictors and species richness were strong and linear. The hotspot regions for venomous snakes species are concentrated on the western to southwestern and north to northeastern regions of Iran, which is partially consistent with the known Irano-Anatolian biodiversity hotspot. Because of the high number of endemic species and climatic conditions on the Iranian Plateau, the venoms of snakes distributed in those areas may contain novel properties and components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Mahdi Kazemi
- Zagros Herpetological Institute, 37156-88415, P. O. No 12, Somayyeh 14 Avenue, Qom, Iran
| | | | - Scott A Weinstein
- Playford Family Medicine, 297 Peachey Rd., Munno Para, South Australia, 5115, Australia; Young Adult Institute, 220 E. 42nd St., 8th Floor, NY, NY, 10017, USA; Premier Health Care, 227 E. 41st St., 8th Floor, NY, NY, 10017, USA.
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4
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Mi C, Ma L, Yang M, Li X, Meiri S, Roll U, Oskyrko O, Pincheira-Donoso D, Harvey LP, Jablonski D, Safaei-Mahroo B, Ghaffari H, Smid J, Jarvie S, Kimani RM, Masroor R, Kazemi SM, Nneji LM, Fokoua AMT, Tasse Taboue GC, Bauer A, Nogueira C, Meirte D, Chapple DG, Das I, Grismer L, Avila LJ, Ribeiro Júnior MA, Tallowin OJS, Torres-Carvajal O, Wagner P, Ron SR, Wang Y, Itescu Y, Nagy ZT, Wilcove DS, Liu X, Du W. Global Protected Areas as refuges for amphibians and reptiles under climate change. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1389. [PMID: 36914628 PMCID: PMC10011414 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36987-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Protected Areas (PAs) are the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation. Here, we collated distributional data for >14,000 (~70% of) species of amphibians and reptiles (herpetofauna) to perform a global assessment of the conservation effectiveness of PAs using species distribution models. Our analyses reveal that >91% of herpetofauna species are currently distributed in PAs, and that this proportion will remain unaltered under future climate change. Indeed, loss of species' distributional ranges will be lower inside PAs than outside them. Therefore, the proportion of effectively protected species is predicted to increase. However, over 7.8% of species currently occur outside PAs, and large spatial conservation gaps remain, mainly across tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, and across non-high-income countries. We also predict that more than 300 amphibian and 500 reptile species may go extinct under climate change over the course of the ongoing century. Our study highlights the importance of PAs in providing herpetofauna with refuge from climate change, and suggests ways to optimize PAs to better conserve biodiversity worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunrong Mi
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Liang Ma
- School of Ecology, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Mengyuan Yang
- Zhejiiang University, Hangzhou, China.,Westlake University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xinhai Li
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Shai Meiri
- School of Zoology and Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Uri Roll
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben- Gurion, Israel
| | - Oleksandra Oskyrko
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Educational and Scientific Center, Institute of Biology and Medicine, Taras Shevchenko national University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
| | | | - Lilly P Harvey
- School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, Nottingham, UK
| | - Daniel Jablonski
- Department of Zoology, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Barbod Safaei-Mahroo
- Pars Herpetologists Institute, Corner of third Jahad alley, Arash Str., Jalal-e Ale-Ahmad Boulevard, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hanyeh Ghaffari
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran
| | - Jiri Smid
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.,Department of Zoology, National Museum in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Scott Jarvie
- Otago Regional Council, Dunedin, 9016, Aotearoa, New Zealand
| | | | - Rafaqat Masroor
- Zoological Sciences Division, Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Garden Avenue, Shakarparian, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | | | - Lotanna Micah Nneji
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | | | - Geraud C Tasse Taboue
- Multipurpose Research Station, Institute of Agricultural Research for development, Bangangté, Cameroon
| | - Aaron Bauer
- Department of Biology and Center for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Stewardship, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, USA
| | - Cristiano Nogueira
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Danny Meirte
- Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium
| | - David G Chapple
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Indraneil Das
- Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Sarawak, Malaysia
| | - Lee Grismer
- Department of Biology, La Sierra University, Riverside, CA, USA
| | - Luciano Javier Avila
- Grupo Herpetología Patagónica (GHP-LASIBIBE), Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales (IPEEC-CONICET), Puerto Madryn, Argentina
| | | | - Oliver J S Tallowin
- UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK
| | - Omar Torres-Carvajal
- Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | | | - Santiago R Ron
- Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Pontificia, Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador
| | - Yuezhao Wang
- Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | - Yuval Itescu
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Müggelseedamm, Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - David S Wilcove
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.,Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, USA
| | - Xuan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Weiguo Du
- Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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Kazemi SM, Jahan-Mahin MH, Mohammadian-Kalat T, Hosseinzadeh MS, Weinstein SA. Local envenoming by the coinsnake or Asian racer, Hemorrhois nummifer and mountain racer or leopard snake, Hemorrhois ravergieri (Serpentes: Colubridae, Colubrinae) in Iran: A reminder of the importance of species identification in the medical management of snakebites. Toxicon 2023; 226:107070. [PMID: 36868482 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2023] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023]
Abstract
In Iran, there are approximately 4500-6500 snakebites per year, but fortunately only 3-9 of these are fatal. However, in some population centers such as Kashan city (Isfahan Province, central Iran), approximately 80% of snakebites are attributed to "non-venomous" snakes that are often comprised of several species of non-front-fanged snakes (NFFS). NFFS comprise a diverse group that constitute approximately 2900 species belonging to an estimated 15 families. We report here two cases of local envenoming from H. ravergieri, and one from H. nummifer that occurred in Iran. The clinical effects consisted of local erythema, mild pain, transient bleeding and edema. Two victims experienced progressive local edema that distressed the victims. The medical team's unfamiliarity with snakebites contributed to the incorrect clinical management of one victim including the contraindicated, ineffective provision of antivenom. These cases provide further documentation about local envenoming caused by these species, and also emphasize the need for regional medical personnel to receive increased training in order to improve familiarity with the local snake fauna and evidence-based snakebite management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Mahdi Kazemi
- Zagros Herpetological Institute, 37156-88415, P. O. No 12, Somayyeh 14 Avenue, Qom, Iran
| | | | | | | | - Scott A Weinstein
- Playford Family Medicine, 297 Peachey Rd., Munno Para, South Australia, 5115, Australia.
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Kazemi SM, Al-Sabi A, Long C, Shoulkamy MI, Abd El-Aziz TM. Case Report: Recent Case Reports of Levant Blunt-Nosed Viper Macrovipera lebetina obtusa Snakebites in Iran. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2021; 104:1870-1876. [PMID: 33819174 PMCID: PMC8103458 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-1640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 01/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Envenomation and death resulting from snakebites represent a significant public health problem worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. The WHO has defined snakebite as a neglected tropical health concern. Bites from Macrovipera lebetina obtusa usually cause life-threatening systemic hemodynamic disturbances, reduced functionality of the kidneys, and other serious symptoms, including hypotension shock, edema, and tissue necrosis, at the bite site. Herein, we highlight five cases of M. l. obtusa envenomation that presented with wide-ranging manifestations. Many recovered cases were left with long-term musculoskeletal disabilities. In a particular case, a 15-year-old male patient was envenomed in his palm by an 80-cm M. l. obtusa. Within 12 hours, swelling extended to near the shoulder. Fasciotomy was performed on the forearm and part of the upper arm of this patient. Symptoms of severe localized pain and swelling, dizziness, weakness, low blood pressure, and itching around the bite area were documented. The patient remained in the hospital for 13 days.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ahmed Al-Sabi
- College of Engineering and Technology, American University of the Middle East, Egaila, Kuwait
| | - Chengbo Long
- Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province/Key Laboratory of Animal Models and Human Disease Mechanisms of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming Institute of Zoology, KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Mahmoud I. Shoulkamy
- Guangdong Key Laboratory of Genome Stability and Disease Prevention, Shenzhen University School of Medicine, Shenzhen, China;,Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt
| | - Tarek Mohamed Abd El-Aziz
- Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt;,Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas,Address correspondence to Tarek Mohamed Abd El-Aziz, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr., San Antonio, TX 78229-3900. E-mail:
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Ghezellou P, Albuquerque W, Garikapati V, Casewell NR, Kazemi SM, Ghassempour A, Spengler B. Integrating Top-Down and Bottom-Up Mass Spectrometric Strategies for Proteomic Profiling of Iranian Saw-Scaled Viper, Echis carinatus sochureki, Venom. J Proteome Res 2020; 20:895-908. [PMID: 33225711 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.0c00687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Saw-scaled or carpet vipers (genus Echis) are considered to cause a higher global snakebite mortality than any other snake. Echis carinatus sochureki (ECS) is a widely distributed snake species, also found across the thirteen provinces of Iran, where it is assumed to be responsible for the most snakebite envenomings. Here, we collected the Iranian specimens of ECS from three different geographically distinct populations, investigated food habits, and performed toxicity assessment and venom proteome profiling to better understand saw-scaled viper life. Our results show that the prey items most commonly found in all populations were arthropods, with scorpions from the family Buthidae particularly well represented. LD50 (median lethal dose) values of the crude venom demonstrate highly comparable venom toxicities in mammals. Consistent with this finding, venom characterization via top-down and bottom-up proteomics, applied to both crude venoms and size-exclusion chromatographic fractions, revealed highly comparable venom compositions among the different populations. By combining all proteomics data, we identified 22 protein families from 102 liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) raw files, including the most abundant snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs, 29-34%); phospholipase A2 (PLA2s, 26-31%); snake venom serine proteinases (SVSPs, 11-12%); l-amino acid oxidases (LAOs, 8-11%), C-type lectins/lectin-like (CTLs, 7-9%) protein families, and many newly detected ones, e.g., renin-like aspartic proteases (RLAPs), fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerases (PPIs), and venom vasodilator peptides (VVPs). Furthermore, we identified and characterized methylated, acetylated, and oxidized proteoforms relating to the PLA2 and disintegrin toxin families and the site of their modifications. It thus seems that post-translational modifications (PTMs) of toxins, particularly target lysine residues, may play an essential role in the structural and functional properties of venom proteins and might be able to influence the therapeutic response of antivenoms, to be investigated in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parviz Ghezellou
- Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen 35392, Germany
| | - Wendell Albuquerque
- Institute of Food Chemistry and Food Biotechnology, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen 35392, Germany
| | - Vannuruswamy Garikapati
- Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen 35392, Germany
| | - Nicholas R Casewell
- Centre for Snakebite Research & Interventions, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, L3 5QA, U.K
| | - Seyed Mahdi Kazemi
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983963113, Iran
| | - Alireza Ghassempour
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 1983963113, Iran
| | - Bernhard Spengler
- Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen 35392, Germany
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Fathinia B, Rödder D, Rastegar-Pouyani N, Rastegar-Pouyani E, Hosseinzadeh MS, Kazemi SM. The past, current and future habitat range of the Spider-tailed Viper, Pseudocerastes urarachnoides (Serpentes: Viperidae) in western Iran and eastern Iraq as revealed by habitat modelling. Zoology in the Middle East 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/09397140.2020.1757910] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Behzad Fathinia
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran
| | - Dennis Rödder
- Zoologisches, Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn, Germany
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Kazemi SM, Sabatier JM. Venoms of Iranian Scorpions (Arachnida, Scorpiones) and Their Potential for Drug Discovery. Molecules 2019; 24:molecules24142670. [PMID: 31340554 PMCID: PMC6680535 DOI: 10.3390/molecules24142670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Scorpions, a characteristic group of arthropods, are among the earliest diverging arachnids, dating back almost 440 million years. One of the many interesting aspects of scorpions is that they have venom arsenals for capturing prey and defending against predators, which may play a critical role in their evolutionary success. Unfortunately, however, scorpion envenomation represents a serious health problem in several countries, including Iran. Iran is acknowledged as an area with a high richness of scorpion species and families. The diversity of the scorpion fauna in Iran is the subject of this review, in which we report a total of 78 species and subspecies in 19 genera and four families. We also list some of the toxins or genes studied from five species, including Androctonus crassicauda, Hottentotta zagrosensis, Mesobuthus phillipsi, Odontobuthus doriae, and Hemiscorpius lepturus, in the Buthidae and Hemiscorpiidae families. Lastly, we review the diverse functions of typical toxins from the Iranian scorpion species, including their medical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyed Mahdi Kazemi
- Zagros Herpetological Institute, No 12, Somayyeh 14 Avenue, 3715688415 Qom, Iran.
| | - Jean-Marc Sabatier
- Institute of NeuroPhysiopathology, UMR 7051, Faculté de Médecine Secteur Nord, 51, Boulevard Pierre Dramard-CS80011, 13344-Marseille Cedex 15, France
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Ghezellou P, Garikapati V, Kazemi SM, Strupat K, Ghassempour A, Spengler B. A perspective view of top-down proteomics in snake venom research. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 2019; 33 Suppl 1:20-27. [PMID: 30076652 DOI: 10.1002/rcm.8255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2018] [Revised: 07/25/2018] [Accepted: 07/29/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The venom produced by snakes contains complex mixtures of pharmacologically active proteins and peptides which play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of snakebite diseases. The deep understanding of venom proteomes can help to improve the treatment of this "neglected tropical disease" (as expressed by the World Health Organization [WHO]) and to develop new drugs. The most widely used technique for venom analysis is liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS)-based bottom-up (BU) proteomics. Considering the fact that multiple multi-locus gene families encode snake venom proteins, the major challenge for the BU proteomics is the limited sequence coverage and also the "protein inference problem" which result in a loss of information for the identification and characterization of toxin proteoforms (genetic variation, alternative mRNA splicing, single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] and post-translational modifications [PTMs]). In contrast, intact protein measurements with top-down (TD) MS strategies cover almost complete protein sequences, and prove the ability to identify venom proteoforms and to localize their modifications and sequence variations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Parviz Ghezellou
- Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Seyed Mahdi Kazemi
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Alireza Ghassempour
- Medicinal Plants and Drugs Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Bernhard Spengler
- Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany
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Chefaoui RM, Hosseinzadeh MS, Mashayekhi M, Safaei-Mahroo B, Kazemi SM. Identifying suitable habitats and current conservation status of a rare and elusive reptile in Iran. AMPHIBIA-REPTILIA 2018. [DOI: 10.1163/15685381-17000185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Knowledge gaps regarding species distribution and abundance are great in remote regions with political instability, and they might be even larger concerning elusive and rare species. We predict the potential distribution for Hierophis andreanus, a poorly known endemic snake in the Iranian Plateau, and assess its conservation status in relation to existing protected areas. We used a maximum entropy modeling tool and Mahalanobis distance to produce an ensemble species distribution model. The most suitable habitats where located mainly in mountain ranges and adjacent areas of Iran and Afghanistan. Mean temperature and slope were the most important predictors for our models. Furthermore, just five localities for H. andreanus were inside the Iranian protected areas. A 10 km expansion from existing boundaries of protected areas in all directions would double protected localities to 10, and a 20 km buffer would result in 13 protected localities. Our findings are particularly valuable to select locations to conduct new surveys and produce a more reliable estimate of current population size to improve conservation and management for this reptile in the Irano-Anatolian region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa M. Chefaoui
- 1CCMAR – Centro de Ciências do Mar, CIMAR Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
| | | | - Meysam Mashayekhi
- 3Department of Environment and Energy, Science and Research branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Barbod Safaei-Mahroo
- 4Pars Herpetologists Institute, 3th Floor, No. 24, Roodbar S. Walley, Mirdamad, Tehran, Iran
| | - Seyed Mahdi Kazemi
- 5Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran
- 6Zagros Herpetological Institute, 37156-88415, P. O. No 12, Somayyeh 14 Avenue, Qom, Iran
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Safaei-Mahroo B, Ghaffari H, Salmabadi S, Kamangar A, Almasi S, Kazemi SM, Ghafoor A. Eastern Montpellier Snake ( Malpolon insignitus fuscus) Ophiophagy Behavior from Zagros Mountains. RUSS J HERPETOL 2016. [DOI: 10.30906/1026-2296-2019-24-1-69-72] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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