Meeting Abstract
In some areas of the world, bites from venomous snakes cause significant human mortality and morbidity. In India, it is estimated that ~81,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes per year, which includes ~11,000 mortalities. A large percentage of these bites are attributed to four species of snakes, but studies of the venoms of those species are sparse. We used three different proteomics techniques to characterize the venom proteomes of two of the major species involved, the Indian cobra (Naja naja) and the common krait (Bungarus caeruleus), both of which belong to the family Elapidae. Techniques included: 1) in-solution tryptic digestion of crude venoms followed by electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-LC-MS/MS), 2) in-gel tryptic digestion of venom components that were separated by protein gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) followed by ESI-LC-MS/MS, and 3) in-solution tryptic digestion of venom components separated via gel filtration chromatography followed by ESI-LC-MS/MS. The use of multiple techniques allowed for identification of a greater number of protein toxins than were recovered by any single technique alone, although the relative increase by any one technique was different between the two snake species. Overall, 81 and 46 different proteins were detected in the venoms of N. naja and B. caeruleus, respectively, and Naja naja venom was more complex than B. caeruleus venom. Although the three-finger toxin and phospholipase A2 families were highly represented in both venoms, the specific percentages were different between the two, as were the presence or absence of other toxin families. These results give a greater understanding of the complexity and composition of the venoms of these two important snake species.
