Australian Scorpion Hormurus waigiensis Venom Fractions Show Broad Bioactivity through Modulation of Bio-Impedance and Cytosolic Calcium

Abstract

Scorpion venoms are a rich source of bioactive molecules, but characterisation of toxin peptides affecting cytosolic Ca2+, central to cell signalling and cell death, is limited. We undertook a functional screening of the venom of the Australian scorpion Hormurus waigiensis to determine the breadth of Ca2+ mobilisation. A human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cell line stably expressing the genetically encoded Ca2+ reporter GCaMP5G and the rabbit type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) was developed as a biosensor. Size-exclusion Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography separated the venom into 53 fractions, constituting 12 chromatographic peaks. Liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy identified 182 distinct molecules with 3 to 63 components per peak. The molecular weights varied from 258 Da—13.6 kDa, with 53% under 1 kDa. The majority of the venom chromatographic peaks (tested as six venom pools) were found to reversibly modulate cell monolayer bioimpedance, detected using the xCELLigence platform (ACEA Biosciences). Confocal Ca2+ imaging showed 9/14 peak samples, with molecules spanning the molecular size range, increased cytosolic Ca2+ mobilization. H. waigiensis venom Ca2+ activity was correlated with changes in bio-impedance, reflecting multi-modal toxin actions on cell physiology across the venom proteome.

Application of xCELLigence real-time cell analysis to the microplate assay for pertussis toxin induced clustering in CHO cells

“…https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248491.t004 [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]. Although the xCELLigence system has been previously used to monitor cell interaction with other bacterial toxins such as Vibrio cholerae toxin [58] and Clostridium difficile toxin [59][60][61][62], to our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the system suitability to detect PT.…”

French Scorpionism (Mainland and Oversea Territories): Narrative Review of Scorpion Species, Scorpion Venom, and Envenoming Management

“…They were limited to Isometrus maculatus [ 88 ] and Liocheles australasiae [ 89 ] venom. For other scorpion species, the venom has not been studied, but for some of them, the venom of scorpions of the same genus have be studied ( Centruroides [ 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 ], Opisthacanthus [ 97 , 98 ], Didymocentrus [ 99 ], Hormurus [ 100 , 101 ]). In France, these species or genera do not present serious complications during human envenomation, so their venom will not be further developed in the present review.…”