The Crotalinae subfamily of pit vipers, which includes rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins, are commonly found in many parts of the U. S., including Texas. CroFab, the current antivenom for pit viper snake bites in the U.S., is derived from antibody fragments harvested from sheep and effectively treats most snake bites, but there are some limitations to the antivenom, including allergic reactions. In order to expand our knowledge of snake venoms and possibly open the door to new antivenom options, our laboratory previously used an affibody phage display library and identified affibody molecules that specifically target Crotalid snake venom proteins. Affibodies are a type of small protein that can be designed to bind with high affinity to a researcher’s protein of choice. By working with the library, two affibody molecules were found to bind to the venoms of three varieties of rattlesnakes, Crotalus atrox, Crotalus scutulatus, and Crotalus viridis. The venom protein targets of the affibody molecules are unknown. The purpose of this project is to identify the protein targets of the affibody molecules using a pull down assay followed by mass spectrometry analysis.

Identification of affibody molecules that target crotalid snake venoms and targeted protein identification

2019 Spring National Meeting

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