Partial in vivo protection against Peruvian spider Loxosceles laeta venom by immunization with a multiepitopic protein (rMEPLox)

Ruth L. Quispe, Michael L. Jaramillo, Frank Torres-Huaco, Cesar Bonilla, Jacqueline Isasi, Clara Guerra-Duarte, Carlos Chávez-Olórtegui

Research output: Contribution to journalOriginal Articlepeer-review

Abstract

Loxoscelism is a serious public health problem in Peru, with approximately 2500 accidents reported per year. To envision alternatives to cope with this health problem, the neutralizing humoral immune response against the lethal effects of Peruvian spider Loxosceles laeta venom was evaluated in a mouse model by immunization with a non-toxic multiepitopic protein (rMEPLox). This immunogen contains epitopes from an astacin-like metalloprotease, a hyaluronidase and a sphingomyelinase-D from Loxosceles intermedia and from SMase-I from L. laeta venoms. In vivo protection assays showed that five out of six mice immunized with rMEPLox (after six injections) resisted to 1.4 LD50 of L. laeta venom, whereas only two animals from a control group survived. The present results indicates that this multiepitopic protein can be a promising candidate for anti-loxoscelic antivenom production and experimental vaccination approaches.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)1-5
Number of pages5
JournalToxicon
Volume215
DOIs
StateIndexed - Aug 2022
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was funded by 021-2019-FONDECYT-PROCIENCIA-BM-Incorporación de Investigadores-Perú, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (CNPq) (Process: 406163/2018–9 ) and by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) , Brazil - (Program COFECUB Process: 88881.191812/2018–01 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Hyaluronidase
  • In vivo protection
  • Loxosceles laeta spider
  • Metalloprotease
  • Multiepitopic protein
  • Sphyngomielinase-D

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