The 30-amino acid antimicrobial peptide Cbf-K16 is a cathelicidin-BF (BF-30) Lys16 mutant derived from the snake venom of Bungarus fasciatus. Our previous study found that BF-30 selectively inhibited the proliferation of the metastatic melanoma cell line B16F10 in vitro and in vivo, but had a negligible effect on human lung cells. In the present study, it was demonstrated for the first time tha...

7 Incorrect snake identification from the observable visual traits is a major reason of death resulting from snake bites. So far no automatic classification method has been proposed to distinguish snakes by deciphering the taxonomy features of snake for the two major species of snakes i.e. Elapidae and Viperidae. We present a parallel processed inter-feature product similarity fusion based auto...

The snake family Elapidae contains over 60 genera (about 300 species) of highly venomous snakes. About one-third of the alpha-taxonomic diversity of the Elapidae comprises coralsnakes: a major radiation of colourful venomous snakes including six genera distributed in Asia and the Americas. In this study, we examine molecular phylogenetic and descriptive morphological evidence for the placement ...

BACKGROUND A case report of a successful recovery from paraplegia and cortical blindness following anti-venom injection for a snake bite by a common krait is reported here. CASE A 14-year old male patient was bitten by a common krait. On admission to a tertiary level hospital, he was started with antivenom serum. But the patient developed sudden respiratory distress following anaphylactic sho...

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) from Indian cobra venom (Naja naja naja) was crystallized from ethanol in space group P4(3)2(1)2 in the presence of Ca2+. The x-ray crystal structure was determined to 2.3-A resolution by molecular replacement techniques using a theoretical model constructed from homologous segments of the bovine pancreatic, porcine pancreatic, and rattlesnake venom crystal structures. T...

INTRODUCTION In North India snake bite deaths are predominantly seen with neurotoxic envenomations (NEs) whereas in South India the hemotoxic envenomation (HE) is more common. Krait is responsible for most deaths in North India. It bites people sleeping on the floors, mostly at night. We describe the profile of venomous snake bites over 1 year in 2013. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was cond...

Purified ol-bungarotoxin was prepared from the venom of Bungarus mulficincfus by carboxymethyl Sephadex C-50 chromatography and Sephadex G-25 chromatography. The material was found to be a pure polypeptide of molecular weight 8000. The purified ar-bungarotoxin was acetylated with (3H]acetic anhydride, and the [“Hlacetylated, purified o(bungarotoxin was called [3H]acetyl-a-bungarotoxin and was u...

The structure of a soluble homopentameric homologue of the N-terminal extracellular domain of the nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor has recently been determined at the atomic level. These data reveal the three-dimensional structure of the binding site for ACh and nicotinic ligands. The ACh-binding sites are located at subunit boundaries in an equatorial position and are framed by residues ...

Experiments were performed to determine the specificity of Il25I]a-bungarotoxin binding to skeletal muscle. In adult rat diaphragm, [1251]a-bungarotoxin was found to bind almost exclusively to those regions of the muscle that contain endplates and are known to be sensitive to acetylcholine. In contrast, chronically denervated adult muscle and muscle from neonatal rats, both of which are sensiti...

INTRODUCTION Sri Lanka records substantial numbers of snakebite annually. Primary rural hospitals are important contributors to health care. Health care planning requires a more detailed understanding of snakebite within this part of the health system. This study reports the management and epidemiology of all hospitalised snakebite in the Kurunegala district in Sri Lanka. METHODOLOGY The dist...