Analysis of Some Putative Novel Peptides from Iranian Scorpion Venom Glands, Hemiscorpius lepturus, Using cDNA Library Construction

To date, more than 300,000 distinct peptides have been identified in scorpion venom. However, only a limited number of these peptides have been described.

We characterized some putative peptides from the venom gland cDNA library of the Iranian yellow scorpion Hemiscorpius lepturus.

Total RNA was extracted from yellow Iranian scorpion glands. Single-stranded cDNA (sscDNA) and double-stranded cDNA (dscDNA) were synthesized by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A cDNA library was achieved by inserting dscDNA into a special vector and subsequently transformed to chemically competent Escherichia coli as a host. The library was screened by culturing the liquid library on Lysogeny broth (LB)-agar plates. Analysis of positive clones was performed by plasmid extraction and the sequencing of the inserts. Finally, all cDNA sequences were analyzed and characterized by bioinformatics software.

One hundred colonies were randomly analyzed. Eighty-nine cDNA sequences had acceptable quality for bioinformatics analysis. Five sequences were selected for further analysis. The peptides related to these sequences were divided into two groups, non-disulfide bridge peptides (NDBP) and disulfide bridge peptides (DBP), the application of which in health and medical issues has been suggested.

The data obtained in this study may be an important resource for further in vivo and in vitro functional assays to identify valuable therapeutic peptides.