| Title |
Cobra ( Naja spp. ) Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Exhibits Resistance to Erabu Sea Snake ( Laticauda semifasciata ) Short-Chain a-Neurotoxin
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Molecular Evolution, May 2004
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00239-003-2573-8 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Zoltan Takacs, Kirk C. Wilhelmsen, Steve Sorota |
| Abstract |
Snake alpha-neutotoxins of Elapidae venoms are grouped into two structural classes, short-chain and long-chain alpha-neutotoxins. While these two classes share many chemical and biological characteristics, there are also distinct dissimilarities between them, including their binding site on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), specificity among species of Chordata, and the associated pharmacological effects. In the present study we test the hypothesis that structural motifs that evolved to confer natural resistance against conspecific long-chain alpha-neurotoxins in Elapidae snakes also interfere with the biological action of short-chain alpha-neurotoxins. We expressed functional nAChRs that contains segments or single residues of the Elapidae nAChR ligand binding domain and tested the effect of short-chain alpha-neurotoxin erabutoxin-a (ETX-a) from the Erabu sea snake Laticauda semifasciata on the acetylcholine-induced currents as measured by two-microelectrode voltage clamp. Our results show that the Elapidae nAChR alpha subunit segment T(154)-L(208) ligand binding domain has an inhibitory effect on the pharmacological action of ETX-a. This effect is primarily attributed to the presence of glycosylation at position N(189). If the glycosylation is removed from the T(154)-L(208) segment, the nAChR will be inhibited, however, to a lesser extent than seen in the mouse. This effect correlates with the variations in alpha-neurotoxin sensitivity of different species and, importantly, reflects the evolutionary conservation of the binding site on the nAChR polypeptide backbone per se. Phylogenetic analysis of alpha-neurotoxin resistance suggests that alpha-neurotoxin-resistant nAChR evolved first, which permitted the evolution of snake venom alpha-neurotoxins. A model describing alpha-neurotoxin resistance in Elapidae snakes is presented. |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 60 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 3% |
| Brazil | 1 | 2% |
| Mexico | 1 | 2% |
| Israel | 1 | 2% |
| Spain | 1 | 2% |
| China | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 53 | 88% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 11 | 18% |
| Student > Bachelor | 11 | 18% |
| Student > Master | 10 | 17% |
| Researcher | 10 | 17% |
| Professor | 4 | 7% |
| Other | 7 | 12% |
| Unknown | 7 | 12% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 32 | 53% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 9 | 15% |
| Chemistry | 3 | 5% |
| Environmental Science | 2 | 3% |
| Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 2 | 3% |
| Other | 5 | 8% |
| Unknown | 7 | 12% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 9. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 19 October 2020.
All research outputs
#3,732,312
of 22,789,566 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Molecular Evolution
#184
of 1,438 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#7,890
of 58,254 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Molecular Evolution
#1
of 5 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,789,566 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 83rd percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,438 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.2. This one has done well, scoring higher than 87% of its peers.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 5 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them