Synthesis and immunological characterization of two peptides which are models for two of the four major antigenic sites of a scorpion toxin.

Abstract

We have synthesized, by the solid phase procedure, then purified and chemically characterized two peptides. They mimic two regions of toxin II of the scorpion Androctonus australis Hector, one around disulfide bridge 12-63 and another at sequence 50-59. Each of these two regions was supposed to include an antigenic site. We have shown that the synthetic replicas of these regions are individually recognized by a part of IgGs raised against native toxin II. This is a strong argument for the involvement of these areas in the antigenicity of the toxin. Furthermore, region-specific IgGs purified by affinity chromatography on the two Sepharose linked peptides were able to bind 125I-labelled toxin II.