[Variability of the structure of neurotoxins from the scorpion Orthochirus scrobiculosus from various natural habitats].

To study the structural variability of the Os3 neurotoxin from the venom of scorpion Orthochirus scrobiculosus inhabiting Uzbekistan and Turkmenia, a cloning method for the family of cDNAs that encode the highly homologous Os3-like polypeptides was developed. The Turkmenian scorpion venom was shown to contain a family of closely related Os3-like polypeptides. Mass-spectrometry indicated that crude venoms from scorpions in-habiting these two regions of Central Asia differ in the amino acid composition of their toxic components depending on the habitat.