Notably, sera against Peruvian venom ( Fig. 5A) reacted moderately with their Brazilian and North American counterparts and poorly with the venom from A. australis (North African). The serum produced against T. serrulatus ( Fig. 5B) recognized strongly DNA Damage inhibitor the Peruvian and North American venoms coated on the ELISA plates and reacted moderately with the North African scorpion venom. The above observations suggest the presence

of antigenic identities or common epitopes across the four scorpion genera studied. However, the recognition of anti-H. lunatus and anti-T. serrulatus venom antibodies against the venoms of the American regions was significantly higher than against African scorpion venom. The antigen–antibody reactivity was also examined using Western blotting with H. lunatus venom and rabbit polyclonal anti-H. lunatus anti-venom. From the study ( Fig. 6), at least six antigenic components LGK-974 concentration were identified. Bands were observed around 7, 15, 45 and 66 kDa. Molar masses higher than

66 kDa were also recognized by anti-H. lunatus antibodies. The presence of 45 kDa bands in H. lunatus venom observed by Western blotting is due to the presence of the enzyme hyaluronidase. Hyaluronidase, is present in all venom samples obtained from scorpions ( Pessini et al., 2001; Seyedian et al., 2010). Antibodies against hyaluronidase can be responsible for the cross-reactivity, observed in the ELISA among the four scorpion venoms analyzed in this study. Although the efficiency

of immunotherapy in treating patients stung by Tryptophan synthase scorpion remains controversial (Theakston et al., 2003), certainly a complete analysis of the neutralizing potency of rabbit anti-H. lunatus anti-venom can provide convincing support that the anti-venom could be an effective means of neutralizing the toxic effects of H. lunatus scorpion toxins. Previous studies in our group in Brazil ( de Resende et al., 1995), strongly support the use of anti-venom therapy in scorpionism, but the success of this therapy remains dependent of the quality of the anti-venoms and the spread at which the treatment is provided. This research was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Brazil – CAPES (Toxinologia No 23038000825/2011-63), Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brazil (FAPEMIG) and by funds of the INCTTOX Program of Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (CNPq). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support and assistance of the Instituto Nacional de Salud, Peru. “
“Peptides occur in the whole animal kingdom and are involved in most, if not all, physiological processes in animals. The knowledge of the amino acid sequence of peptide hormones or neurotransmitters is important for the synthesis of large quantities of peptides, in order to perform further functional analysis (Baggerman et al., 2004).