Isolation and characterization of three lethal toxins from the Mexican scorpion Centruroides mascota.

The venom from the Mexican scorpion Centruroides mascota was separated by chromatographic procedures and three new toxins for mammals (mice used as model) were found and characterized. They were named Cmasc1 to 3, and the full amino acid of Cmasc1 with a molecular mass of 7577.8 Da was determined. Similarly, the amino acid sequence of, Cmasc2 was determined. It has the molecular weight of 7693.8 Da Cmasc3 had molecular mass of 7542.5 Da, but the full amino acid sequence was not determined, however the first 62 amino acid residues are identical to Cmasc2. They are all packed by four disulfide bridges. Electrophysiological experiments using patch-clamp heterologous expressing Nav1.6 human channels showed that they are bona fide toxins of the beta type scorpion toxins (β-ScTx). A phylogenetic tree analysis showed that they are similar to other toxins from the genus Centruroides, as somehow expected. We are currently evaluating some single-chain antibodies potentially capable of protecting humans against intoxication by these toxins.