Venoms 2012


  • Venoms 2012 Summary

    Bioactive Compounds and Therapeutics

    18-20 September 2012, St Hilda's College, Oxford, UK

    Venoms offer a substantial pool of bioactive compounds with therapeutic and pharmacological potential. The 2nd Oxford World Symposium on Venoms, Venoms 2012, was aimed at providing an international platform to scientists from academia, industry and clinical settings to discuss and explore this huge reservoir of potential lead compounds for drug development.

    Venoms 2012 covered a variety of topics in toxinology, including:

    • Isolation and characterisation of bioactive lead compounds
    • Anti-venom vaccines, therapeutics and envenomation treatment strategies
    • Envenomation as a neglected tropical disease
    Distinguished keynote speakers
    • Prof David Warrell
    • Prof John B Harris

    Professor Warrell received a Life-time Achievement Award at Venoms 2012 for his exceptional contributions to Clinical Sciences.

  • Distinguished Faculty

    Professor Dr Juan Calvete
    Professor and Laboratoty Head, Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia, Valencia, Spain
    Title: (Prote)omics in snake venom research-A mere academic exercise?

    Dr Reto Stöcklin
    President and CEO, Atheris Laboratories, Geneva, Switzerland
    Title: CONCO: The first integrated venomics project

    Mr Steven Trim
    Director, Venomtech Ltd, UK
    Title: Naturally compressed venom screening arrays

    Professor Yuri Utkin
    Professor and Laboratory Head, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
    Title: Novel toxins for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

    Dr Catherine Vulfius
    Research Scientist, Institute of Cell Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
    Title: Polypeptides from Viperidae snake venoms block acetylcholine-elicited current in Lymnaea stagnalis neurons

    Dr Sergey Kozlov
    Senior Research Scientist, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russia
    Title: Natural compounds acting on ASIC3 receptor

    Professor Dr Igor Križaj
    Professor and Laboratory Head, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
    Title: Snake venom toxic phospholipases – valuable tools for dissecting activities of their mammalian orthologs

    Keynote Address by Professor John B Harris
    Emeritus Professor of Experimental Neurology, University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK
    Title: Adventures with muscle

    Dr Michela Rigoni
    Research Scientist, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
    Title: Neuromuscular junction degeneration and regeneration following snake PLA2 neurotoxins poisoning

    Professor Dr Frédéric Ducancel
    Director, The Laboratory of Antibody Engineering for Health, CEA/iBiTecS/SPI/LIAS, France
    Title: Sarafotoxins: Molecular diversity and engineering

    Professor Antony Gomes
    Professor, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
    Title: Snake venom anti-cancer molecules – from folk medicine to reality

    Professor Peter Strong
    Professor and Laboratory Head, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK
    Title: Arthropod venom toxins: from biological tools to templates for clinical agents

    Professor Dr Jan Tytgat
    Professor and Laboratory Head, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
    Title: What can be learned from insect defensin-derived neurotoxins?

    Dr Alan Wickenden
    Scientific Director and Fellow, Janssen Research & Development LLC, San Diego, CA, USA
    Title: The molecular basis of the interaction between Huwentoxin-IV (μ-TRTX-Hh2a) and the voltage-sensitive sodium channel, Nav1.7.

    Dr Wafa Bouzid
    Researcher, Centre Universitaire JFC, Toulouse, France
    Title: First transcriptomic signature from ant gland venom of the speciesTetramorium bicarinatum (Myrmicinae)

    Dr Vassili Lazarev
    Chief of Gene Engineering Labs, Research Institute for Physico-Chemical Medicine, Moscow, Russia
    Title:
    Arthropod venom peptides for gene therapy of intracellular bacterial infections

    Dr Ulrich Kuch
    Head, Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Frankfurt, Germany
    Title: Snake bite diagnosis - what's the point?

    Keynote Address by Professor David Warrell
    Emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford, UK
    Title: Making toxinological sense of the clinical effects of envenoming and poisoning

    Professor David Lalloo
    Professor of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
    Title: Priorities and challenges of clinical envenoming research

    Dr Anita Malhotra
    Lecturer and Laboratory Head, Bangor University, Bangor, UK
    Title: Exploring the treasure trove: Patterns of snake venom diversity from an evolutionary perspective

    Dr Ana Mura Moura-da-Silva
    Research Scientist, Instituto Butantan, SP, Brazil
    Title: Processing of SVMPs: Detection of SVMP zymogens and pro-domain inBothrops jararaca venom and venom glands

    Dr Nicolas Gilles
    Research Scientist, Toxin, Receptor and Ion Channel Group, Institute of Biology and Technologies (iBiTEC-S), Gif sur Yvette, France
    Title: G-protein-coupled receptors - an unexploited family of animal toxins targets: Exploration of green mamba venom for novel drug candidates

    Miss Sanghamitra Mukherjee
    Research Student, Maulana Azad College, Kolkata, India
    Title : Bioactivity of a small molecular weight compound (NNSS2) from Naja najashed skin on estrous cycle of female albino mice

  • Poster Presented at Venoms 2012

    (Presenters in Bold)

    Transcriptome analysis of the venom gland of the Egyptian scorpion Scorpio maurus palmatus (Arachnida: Scorpionidae)

    Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, Veronica Quintero Hernandez and Lourival D Possani

    Comparative Functional Characterization of a Gyroxin-like Serine Protease from Crotalus durissus collilineatus in the Native and Recombinant Forms

    Johara Boldrini-França; Renata Santos Rodrigues; Mário Sérgio Rocha Gomes; Dayane Lorena Naves de Souza; Karla de Castro Figueiredo Bordon; Veridiana de Melo Rodrigues; Eliane Candiani Arantes

    STUDY OF MECHANISM OF ACTION OF BACTERIAL AND SCORPION NEUROTOXINS

    Sadia Ashraf, Cesare Montecucco and Ornella Rossetto

    Heterologous Expression of a Gyroxin Homologue Serine Protease fromCrotalus durissus collilineatus in Pichia pastoris

    Johara Boldrini-França; Renata Santos Rodrigues; Ludier Kesser Santos-Silva; Flávio Henrique-Silva; Veridiana de Melo Rodrigues; Eliane Candiani Arantes

    Use of gamma radiation to detoxify antigens: Safe approach to develop treatment for scorpion envenoming

    Lila Boussag-Abib, Rebbouh Farah and Laraba-Djebari Fatima

    The fibrinogen: A primary target of two therapeutic biomolecules newly isolated from the venom of Cerastes cerastes () and role of CC3-SPase inshortening of blood- clotting time of patient sera deficient in clotting factors

    CHERIFI F, et LARABA-DJEBARI F

    Neuromuscular blockade induced by Jaburetox (a recombinant peptide derived from Canavalia ensiformis urease) at In vivo cockroach nerve- muscle preparations

    Cháriston André Dal Belo, Carlos Gabriel Moreira de Almeida, Paulo Marcos Pinto, Jaderson Costa DaCosta, Célia R. Carlini

    Calpains are involved in nerve terminal degeneration induced by spider and snake presynaptic neurotoxins

    Duregotti E, Tedesco E, Montecucco C and Rigoni M

    The PLA 2activity of myotoxins from Bothrops asper venom

    Julian Fernandez, Paola Caccin, Grielof Koster, Bruno Lomonte, Jose Maria Gutierrez, Anthony D. Postle and Cesare Montecucco

    VENOMICS, High-throughput peptidomics and transcriptomics of animal venoms for discovery of novel therapeutic peptides and innovative drug development

    Nicolas Gilles, Gregory Upert, Alexandra Pastor, Denis Servent, Gilles Mourier

    Isolation and Partial Characterization of a Hyaluronidase from Tityus serrulatus Venom

    Fernanda Gobbi-Amorim; Karla de Castro Figueiredo Bordon; Eliane Candiani Arantes

    The Identification and Characterisation of Antimicrobial Peptides from Snake Venom

    Patrick Harrison, Thomas J Smith, Peter N Strong & Keith Miller

    In vitro assessment of scorpion venom: Biochemical and morphological changes in immune cell lines

    Hammoudi-Triki D, Khemili D, Bechohra L, Saidi H and Laraba-Djebari F

    Involvement of Immunological markers with the severity of envenomation: Correlation with epidemiological data

    Ishak Boushaki Wassila, Ladjel-Mendil Amina, Adi-Bessalem Sonia, Alamir Bouchra, Merad Rachida, Hammoudi-Triki Djalila and Fatima Laraba-Djebari

    Clinical scoring system as a new device in deciding therapeutic dosage schedule for efficient use of anti-scorpion venom serum

    Natu VS, Kamerkar SB, Geeta K, Vidya K, Natu V, Sane S, Kushte R, Thatte S, Uchil DA, Rege NN and Bapat RD

    Investigating Ladybird Alkaloids as Potential Leads for Novel Insecticides

    Richards DP, Mellor I, Duce I, Birkett M, Pickett J and Stockman R

    Evaluation of the cytotoxicity and cell proliferation induced by the toxin BaPLA 2-IV on tumor cell lines

    Adelia CO Cintra, Cássio P da Silva, Suely V Sampaio

    Lebecin, a novel snalec from Macrovipera lebetina venom with anti-tumour activity on breast cancer cells (MDA-MB231)

    Sameh Sarray, Jebali Jed, Fakhfekh Emna, Mohamed El Ayeb and Marrakchi Naziha

    Hemostatic disturbances evoked by young and adult Bothrops jararaca snake venoms: Analysis of the envenoming process and the recovery after specific antivenin treatment

    Luana V Senise, Sâmella S. Oliveira, Marcio Y. Yano, Savio S. Sant´Anna, Marcelo L. Santoro, Ida S. Sano-Martins

    Involvement of Kaliotoxin in seizure disorders

    Nesrine Sifi, Ladjel-Mendil Amina, Martin-Eauclaire Marie-France et, Laraba-Djebari Fatima

    Hemostatic disorder and multiple organ failure following Echis pyramidumbite

    Zdenek Stach , Jiri Valenta

    Rosmarinic Acid as an Antivenom Compound in Argusia argentea and Antivenom Activity of Its Analogues

    Yoshiaki Takaya, Hnin Thanda Aung, Toshiaki Nikai, Yumiko Komori, Tsunemasa Nonogaki, Masatake Niwa

    Snakebites in Czech Republic - Epidemiological and clinical aspects in 12 years (2000 – 2011)

    Jiri Valenta, Zdenek Stach

    Do mitochondrial Alarmins released by snake envenomations trigger inflammation?

    Maria Vono , Irene Zornetta, Paola Caccin, Bruno Lomonte, Josè M Gutierrez and Cesare Montecucco

  • TBA