In addition, this toxin has antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and immunomodulatory actions 9, 10, 11, 12. Several studies have shown that CTX has several biological activities, such as neurotoxicity, myotoxicity, nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity. Its molecular mass is 24 to 26В kDa and its isoelectric point is approximately 4.7 5, 8. The CTX is the main toxin in the rattlesnake venom, corresponding to around 60% of the total proteome of the venom 6, 7. The subunit CB 3 and CTX 4 were solved, revealing the importance of its individual isoforms and, more recently, further details of in solution CTX characteristics were revealed 5. Subsequently, Fraenkel-Conrat and Singer 2 described its composition, being a heterodimeric ОІ-neurotoxin, formed by a non-covalent association of a non-toxic acid subunit, Crotoxin A (CA or Crotapotin) and a basic subunit called Crotoxin B (CB) with phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2) activity.

Considering that the selectivity of the lipid composition varies in different tissues and organs of the human body, the thermostructural studies presented here are extremely important to open new investigations on the biological activities of CTX in different biological systems.Д¬rotoxin (CTX) was the first protein purified from the rattlesnake, Crotalus durissus terrificus venom, which was isolated by Slotta and Fraenkel-Conrat 1. Here we show that CTX can penetrate THP-1 cells and induce pores only in anionic lipid model membranes, suggesting that a possible access pathway for CTX to the cell is via lipids with anionic polar heads. In the present work, the interaction of the CTX complex with the cell membrane of macrophages is studied, both using biological cells and synthetic lipid membranes to monitor structural alterations induced by the protein. The biological activities performed by macrophages are related to signaling mediated by receptors expressed on the membrane surface of these cells or opening and closing of ion channels, generation of membrane curvature and pore formation. The important pharmacological actions of Crotoxin (CTX) on macrophages, the main toxin in the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus, and its important participation in the control of different pathophysiological processes, have been demonstrated.

Pure pc phosphotyldcholine