scholarly journals Investigating Toxin Diversity and Abundance in Snake Venom Proteomes

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theo Tasoulis ◽  
Tara L. Pukala ◽  
Geoffrey K. Isbister

Understanding snake venom proteomes is becoming increasingly important to understand snake venom biology, evolution and especially clinical effects of venoms and approaches to antivenom development. To explore the current state of snake venom proteomics and transcriptomics we investigated venom proteomic methods, associations between methodological and biological variability and the diversity and abundance of protein families. We reviewed available studies on snake venom proteomes from September 2017 to April 2021. This included 81 studies characterising venom proteomes of 79 snake species, providing data on relative toxin abundance for 70 species and toxin diversity (number of different toxins) for 37 species. Methodologies utilised in these studies were summarised and compared. Several comparative studies showed that preliminary decomplexation of crude venom by chromatography leads to increased protein identification, as does the use of transcriptomics. Combining different methodological strategies in venomic approaches appears to maximize proteome coverage. 48% of studies used the RP-HPLC →1D SDS-PAGE →in-gel trypsin digestion → ESI -LC-MS/MS pathway. Protein quantification by MS1-based spectral intensity was used twice as commonly as MS2-based spectral counting (33–15 studies). Total toxin diversity was 25–225 toxins/species, with a median of 48. The relative mean abundance of the four dominant protein families was for elapids; 3FTx–52%, PLA2–27%, SVMP–2.8%, and SVSP–0.1%, and for vipers: 3FTx–0.5%, PLA2–24%, SVMP–27%, and SVSP–12%. Viper venoms were compositionally more complex than elapid venoms in terms of number of protein families making up most of the venom, in contrast, elapid venoms were made up of fewer, but more toxin diverse, protein families. No relationship was observed between relative toxin diversity and abundance. For equivalent comparisons to be made between studies, there is a need to clarify the differences between methodological approaches and for acceptance of a standardised protein classification, nomenclature and reporting procedure. Correctly measuring and comparing toxin diversity and abundance is essential for understanding biological, clinical and evolutionary implications of snake venom composition.

Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar Neri-Castro ◽  
Melisa Bénard-Valle ◽  
Dayanira Paniagua ◽  
Leslie V. Boyer ◽  
Lourival D. Possani ◽  
...  

The most abundant protein families in viper venoms are Snake Venom Metalloproteases (SVMPs), Snake Venom Serine Proteases (SVSPs) and Phospholipases (PLA2s). These are primarily responsible for the pathophysiology caused by the bite of pit-vipers; however, there are few studies that analyze the pharmacokinetics (PK) of whole venom (WV) and its protein families. We studied the pathophysiology, PK profile and differential absorption of representative toxins from venom of Neotropical Rattlesnake (Crotalus simus) in a large animal model (ovine). Toxins studied included crotoxin (the main lethal component), which causes moderate to severe neurotoxicity; SVSPs, which deplete fibrinogen; and SVMPs, which cause local tissue damage and local and systemic hemorrhage. We found that Whole Venom (WV) was highly bioavailable (86%) 60 h following intramuscular (IM) injection, and extrapolation suggests that bioavailability may be as high as 92%. PK profiles of individual toxins were consistent with their physicochemical properties and expected clinical effects. Lymph cannulated animals absorbed 1.9% of WV through lymph during the first 12 h. Crotoxin was minimally detectable in serum after intravenous (IV) injection; however, following IM injection it was detected in lymph but not in blood. This suggests that crotoxin is quickly released from the blood toward its tissue targets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-254
Author(s):  
Yaqiong Zhang ◽  
Zhiping Jia ◽  
Yunyang Liu ◽  
Xinwen Zhou ◽  
Yi Kong

Background: Deinagkistrodon acutus (D. acutus) and Bungarus multicinctus (B. multicinctus) as traditional medicines have been used for hundreds of years in China. The venoms of these two species have strong toxicity on the victims. Objective: The objective of this study is to reveal the profile of venom proteins and peptides of D. acutus and B. multicinctus. Method: Ultrafiltration, SDS-PAGE coupled with in-gel tryptic digestion and Liquid Chromatography- Electrospray Ionization-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) were used to characterize proteins and peptides of venoms of D. acutus and B. multicinctus. Results: In the D. acutus venom, 67 proteins (16 protein families) were identified, and snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs, 38.0%) and snake venom C-type lectins (snaclecs, 36.7%) were dominated proteins. In the B. multicinctus venom, 47 proteins (15 protein families) were identified, and three-finger toxins (3FTxs, 36.3%) and Kunitz-type Serine Protease Inhibitors (KSPIs, 32.8%) were major components. In addition, both venoms contained small amounts of other proteins, such as Snake Venom Serine Proteinases (SVSPs), Phospholipases A2 (PLA2s), Cysteine-Rich Secreted Proteins (CRISPs), 5'nucleotidases (5'NUCs), Phospholipases B (PLBs), Phosphodiesterases (PDEs), Phospholipase A2 Inhibitors (PLIs), Dipeptidyl Peptidases IV (DPP IVs), L-amino Acid Oxidases (LAAOs) and Angiotensin-Converting Enzymes (ACEs). Each venom also had its unique proteins, Nerve Growth Factors (NGFs) and Hyaluronidases (HYs) in D. acutus, and Cobra Venom Factors (CVFs) in B. multicinctus. In the peptidomics, 1543 and 250 peptides were identified in the venoms of D. acutus and B. multicinctus, respectively. Some peptides showed high similarity with neuropeptides, ACE inhibitory peptides, Bradykinin- Potentiating Peptides (BPPs), LAAOs and movement related peptides. Conclusion: Characterization of venom proteins and peptides of D. acutus and B. multicinctus will be helpful for the treatment of envenomation and drug discovery.


1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (06) ◽  
pp. 0993-0997
Author(s):  
Zhao-Yan Li ◽  
Xiao-Wei Wu ◽  
Tie-Fu Yu ◽  
Eric C-Y Lian

SummaryBy means of CM-Sephadex C-25, DEAE-Sephadex A-50, Sephadex G-200, and Sephadex G-75 chromatographies, a lupus anticoagulant like protein (LALP) from Agkistrodon halys brevicaudus was purified. On SDS-PAGE, the purified LALP had a molecular weight of 25,500 daltons under non-reducing condition and 15,000 daltons under reducing condition. The isoelectric point was pH 5.6. Its N terminal amino acid sequencing revealed a mixture of 2 sequences: DCP(P/S)(D/G)WSSYEGH(C/R)Q(Q/K). It was devoid of phospho-lipaseA, fibrino(geno)lytic, 5′-nucleotidase, L-amino acid oxidase, phosphomonoesterase, phosphodiesterase and thrombin-like activities, which were found in crude venom. In the presence of LALP, PT, aPTT, and dRVVT of human plasma were markedly prolonged and its effects were concentration-dependent but time-independent. The inhibitory effect of LALP on the plasma clotting time was enhanced by decreasing phospholipid concentration in TTI test. The individual clotting factor activity was not affected by LALP when higher dilutions of LALP-plasma mixture were used for assay. Russell’s viper venom time was shortened when high phospholipid confirmatory reagent was used. Therefore, the protein has lupus anticoagulant property.


1982 ◽  
Vol 48 (03) ◽  
pp. 277-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
I Nathan ◽  
A Dvilansky ◽  
T Yirmiyahu ◽  
M Aharon ◽  
A Livne

SummaryEchis colorata bites cause impairment of platelet aggregation and hemostatic disorders. The mechanism by which the snake venom inhibits platelet aggregation was studied. Upon fractionation, aggregation impairment activity and L-amino acid oxidase activity were similarly separated from the crude venom, unlike other venom enzymes. Preparations of L-amino acid oxidase from E.colorata and from Crotalus adamanteus replaced effectively the crude E.colorata venom in impairment of platelet aggregation. Furthermore, different treatments known to inhibit L-amino acid oxidase reduced in parallel the oxidase activity and the impairment potency of both the venom and the enzyme preparation. H2O2 mimicked characteristically the impairment effects of L-amino acid oxidase and the venom. Catalase completely abolished the impairment effects of the enzyme and the venom. It is concluded that hydrogen peroxide formed by the venom L-amino acid oxidase plays a role in affecting platelet aggregation and thus could contribute to the extended bleeding typical to persons bitten by E.colorata.


Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta De Angelis ◽  
Simona Bavaro ◽  
Graziana Forte ◽  
Rosa Pilolli ◽  
Linda Monaci

Almond is consumed worldwide and renowned as a valuable healthy food. Despite this, it is also a potent source of allergenic proteins that can trigger several mild to life-threatening immunoreactions. Food processing proved to alter biochemical characteristics of proteins, thus affecting the respective allergenicity. In this paper, we investigated the effect of autoclaving, preceded or not by a hydration step, on the biochemical and immunological properties of almond proteins. Any variation in the stability and immunoreactivity of almond proteins extracted from the treated materials were evaluated by total protein quantification, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), and protein profiling by electrophoresis-based separation (SDS-PAGE). The sole autoclaving applied was found to weakly affect almond protein stability, despite what was observed when hydration preceded autoclaving, which resulted in a loss of approximately 70% of total protein content compared to untreated samples, and a remarkable reduction of the final immunoreactivity. The final SDS-PAGE protein pattern recorded for hydrated and autoclaved almonds disclosed significant changes. In addition, the same samples were further submitted to human-simulated gastro-intestinal (GI) digestion to evaluate potential changes induced by these processing methods on allergen digestibility. Digestion products were identified by High Pressure Liquid Chromatography-High Resolution Tandem Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS/MS) analysis followed by software-based data mining, and complementary information was provided by analyzing the proteolytic fragments lower than 6 kDa in size. The autoclave-based treatment was found not to alter the allergen digestibility, whereas an increased susceptibility to proteolytic action of digestive enzymes was observed in almonds subjected to autoclaving of prehydrated almond kernels. Finally, the residual immunoreactivity of the GI-resistant peptides was in-silico investigated by bioinformatic tools. Results obtained confirm that by adopting both approaches, no epitopes associated with known allergens survived, thus demonstrating the potential effectiveness of these treatments to reduce almond allergenicity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-490
Author(s):  
Jia Jia ◽  
Jie Pan ◽  
Hongpan Xu ◽  
Sen Wang ◽  
Bing Bai

Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 1489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Octavio Roldán-Padrón ◽  
José Luis Castro-Guillén ◽  
José Alejandro García-Arredondo ◽  
Martha Sandra Cruz-Pérez ◽  
Luis Fernando Díaz-Peña ◽  
...  

Snakebite envenoming is a serious medical problem in different areas of the world. In Latin America, the major prevalence is due to snakes of the family Viperidae, where rattlesnakes (Crotalus) are included. They produce hemotoxic venom which causes bleeding, tissue degradation and necrosis. Each venom has several enzymatic activities, producing different effects in the envenoming, doing its clinical effects difficult to study. Comparison between venom molecules is also difficult when different techniques are used, and therefore, their identification/characterization using the same methodology is necessary. In this work, a general biochemical characterization in snake venom of serine proteases (SVSP), phospholipases A2 (PLA2), metalloproteases (SVMP) and hyaluronidases (SVH) of Crotalus aquilus (Ca), Crotalus polystictus (Cp) and Crotalus molossus nigrescens (Cmn) was done. Differences in protein pattern, enzyme content and enzymatic activities were observed. All the venoms showed high PLA2 activity, high molecular weight SVSP, and a wide variety of SVMP and SVH forms. Ca and Cp showed the highest enzymatic activities of SVMP and SVSP trypsin-like and chymotrypsin-like, whereas Cmn showed the highest SVH and similar PLA2 activity with Ca. All the venoms showed peptides with similar molecular weight to crotamine-like myotoxins. No previous biochemical characterization of C. aquilus has been reported and there are no previous analyses that include these four protein families in these Crotalus venoms.


1979 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hauck ◽  
L. Muszbek

It has been demonstrated that thrombin can split skeletal muscle actin (Muszbek and Laki, PNAS 1974,71,2208). In the present paper the effect of thrombin-like snake venom proteases (Ancrod and Batroxobins of Bothrops moojeni and Bothrops marajoensis) on actin was studied and compared to the thrombic cleavage of this protein. Only EDTA pretreated G and F actin were split by Ancrod, while, Batroxobins hydrolized native G actin, too. The time course of digestion was followed by SDS PAGE. A split product of 37500 m.w. appeared first which was cleaved further resulting in three lower m.w. fragments. The SDS gel pattern of thrombic fragmentation was well distinguishable from those caused by Ancrod and Batroxobins. The first split products of Batroxobin digestion were isolated and by estimating their N-, and C-terminal end groups and amino acid compositions the peptide bond hydrolyzed first was located in the primary structure of actin. It was established that while thrombin split off two actinopeptides (at Arg ( 28)-Ala(29) and Arg ( 39)-His ( 40) from the N-terminal end of the molecule only Arg ( 39)-His ( 40) was cleaved by Batroxobins.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Supeecha Kumkate ◽  
Lawan Chanhome ◽  
Tipparat Thiangtrongjit ◽  
Jureeporn Noiphrom ◽  
Panithi Laoungboa ◽  
...  

The two venomous pit vipers, Trimeresurus macrops and T. hageni, are distributed throughout Thailand, although their abundance varies among different areas. No species-specific antivenom is available for their bite victims, and the only recorded treatment method is a horse antivenom raised against T. albolabris crude venom. To facilitate assessment of the cross-reactivity of heterologous antivenoms, protein profiles of T. macrops and T. hageni venoms were explored using mass-spectrometry-based proteomics. The results show that 185 and 216 proteins were identified from T. macrops and T. hageni venoms, respectively. Two major protein components in T. macrops and T. hageni venoms were snake venom serine protease and metalloproteinase. The toxicity of the venoms on human monocytes and skin fibroblasts was analyzed, and both showed a greater cytotoxic effect on fibroblasts than monocytic cells, with toxicity occurring in a dose-dependent rather than a time-dependent manner. Exploring the protein composition of snake venom leads to a better understanding of the envenoming of prey. Moreover, knowledge of pit viper venomics facilitates the selection of the optimum heterologous antivenoms for treating bite victims.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anand Chopra ◽  
William G. Willmore ◽  
Kyle K. Biggar

Abstract The incorporation of 2,2,2-trichloroethanol in polyacrylamide gels allows for fluorescent visualization of proteins following electrophoresis. Ultraviolet-light exposure, in the presence of this trichlorinated compound, results in a covalent modification of the tryptophan indole ring that shifts the fluorescent emission into the visible range. Based on this principle, we used 2,2,2-trichloroethanol to develop a microplate format protein quantification assay based on the fluorescent signal generated by modified proteins. We also demonstrated a specific fluorescent emission of 2,2,2-trichloroethanol-labeled protein at 450 nm, with a 310 nm excitation, resulting from modification of both tryptophan and tyrosine residues. Following optimization, this protein quantification assay displayed superior sensitivity when compared to UV absorbance at 280 nm (A280), and enabled quantification beyond the linear range permitted by the Bradford method. This 100 μL assay displayed a sensitivity of 10.5 μg in a range up to at least 200 μg. Furthermore, we extended the utility of this method through the development of a 20 μL low-volume assay, with a sensitivity of 8.7 μg tested up to 100 μg, which enabled visualization of proteins following SDS-PAGE. Collectively, these results demonstrate the utility of 2,2,2-trichloroethanol-based protein quantification and demonstrates the protein visualization in polyacrylamide gels based on 2,2,2-trichloroethanol-labeling pre-electrophoresis.


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