The Effect of Cobrotoxin on $NF-{\kappa}B$ binding Activity in Raw264.7 cells

Cobrotoxin, a venom of Vipera lebetina turanica, is a group of basic peptidescomposed of 233 amino acids with six disulfide bonds formed by twelve cysteins. NF-kB is activated by subsequent release of inhibitory IkB and translocation of p50. Since sulfhydryl group is present in kinase domain of p50 subunit of NF-kB, cobrotoxin could modify NF-kB activity by protein-protein interaction. We therefore examined effect of cobrotoxin on NF-kB activities in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-stimulated Raw 264.7 mouse macrophages. Cobrotoxin suppressed the LPS and SNP-induced release of IkB and p50 translocation resulted in inhibition of DNA binding activity of NF-kB. Inhibition of NF-kB resulted in reduction of the LPS and SNP-induced production of inflammatory mediators NO and PGE2 generation. The inhibitory effect of cobrotoxin on the NF-kB activity were blocked by addition of reducing agents dithiothreitol and glutathione. These results demonstrate that cobrotoxin inhibits activation of NF-kB, and suggest that pico to nanomolar range of cobrotoxin could inhibit the expression of genes in the NF-kB signal pathway.