MULTIDIMENSIONAL PEPTIDE FINGERPRINTING BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY, CAPILLARY-ZONE-ELECTROPHORESIS AND MATRIX-ASSISTED-LASER-DESORPTION IONIZATION TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS-SPECTROMETRY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF TARANTULA VENOM SAMPLES/

The increased interest in spider venom toxins has made precise identif ication of venom samples necessary for reproducibility of biochemical and pharmacological studies. In the family Theraphosidae (Tarantulas), identification of specimens may be difficult and a new approach invol ving multidimensional biochemical analysis of venoms is proposed. Comb ined HPLC, capillary electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorpt ion/ionization fingerprinting of venom peptides permits accurate and r eproducible identification of venom samples, and can be correlated wit h morphological observations. This rapid and very accurate methodology can be applied to minute amounts of samples obtained from live animal s, on a large scale, with high reproducibility. Application of the met hodology to five separate examples demonstrates confirmation of sample identity, separation of closely related species on the basis of venom profiles, and solution of classification problems not easily solved b y morphological examination, Discussion of sample variability and the use of a dual matrix system is presented. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.