Combined venom profiling and cytotoxicity screening of the Radde's mountain viper (Montivipera raddei) and Mount Bulgar Viper (Montivipera bulgardaghica) with potent cytotoxicity against human A549 lung carcinoma cells

- Venom characterization of Montivipera bulgardaghica and Montivipera raddei.
- Combined approach by using intact mass profiling and bottom-up proteomics.
- Bottom-up venomics showed the existence of several snake venom families.
- Intact mass profiling identified acidic and basic phospholipases A2.
- Cytotoxicity screening revealed a high activity against A549 lung carcinoma cells.

Here we report the first characterization of the endemic Mount Bulgar Viper (Montivipera bulgardaghica) and Radde's mountain viper (Montivipera raddei) venom by a combined approach using intact mass profiling and bottom-up proteomics. The cytotoxicity screening of crude venom as well as isolated serine proteases revealed a high activity against A549 human lung carcinoma cells. By means of intact mass profiling of native and reduced venom we observed basic and acidic phospholipases type A2. Moreover, the analysis revealed snake venom metalloproteases, cysteine-rich secretory proteins, disintegrins, snake venom serine proteases, C-type lectins, a vascular endothelial growth factor and an L-amino acid oxidase.

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