molecular characterization of a cdna encoding of an anionic cysteine-free antimicrobial peptide from the iranian scorpion odontobuthus doriae venom glands

Background: the venom peptides from the scorpion fauna of iran have been poorly characterized so far. objectives: in this study, we identified a cdna encoding of an anionic cysteine-free antimicrobial peptide from the iranian yellow scorpion odontobuthus doriae (o.doriae). methods: the cdna sequence of an anionic antimicrobial-peptide (amp) was determined from the venom gland cdna library of iranian yellow scorpion o.doriae and was named odamp5. this sequence was characterized by a software. then, the structure and function of its putative peptide were predicted in a bioinformatics manner. the library was constructed from 6 scorpion venom glands. the cdna related to odamp5 was isolated from one positive clone of the library. results: the analysis of odamp5 reveals a 51-residue mature peptide with an anionic property that was stable in physiological states. odamp5 was similar to anionic peptide aba-2 from androctonus bicolor and according to its structure, it can be a member of helical structure amps with a new type of putative conserved domain. putative odamp5 has a small size which makes it convenient for synthesis. conclusion: furthermore, we created a framework to express the odamp5 peptide for future biomedical and pharmacological studies. odamp5 may be a new suitable therapeutic strategy for bacterial infection among a few recognized scorpion venom peptides without disulfide bridges.