Venom peptidomics and transcriptomics of the spider Nephilengys cruentata

• Grant number: 14/17140-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: December 01, 2014
• End date: November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Keiji Tashima
• Grantee: Rafael Lucena Lomazi
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The diversity of biological activities found spider venom components has motivated many research groups to search for molecules with potential pharmacological use, which results in an increasing number of toxins isolated and sequenced in recent years. But despite the advances, the number of peptides isolated and characterized spiders is estimated to be 0.01% of all possible existing sequences. Studies indicated the presence of peptides with antimicrobial activity in the venom of several Brazilian spiders, however, few of these components have been characterized so far. Considering the biological potential of the molecules contained in the venoms of Nephilengys cruentata spider, the importance of characterizing these toxins and the importance of exploring new molecules with antimicrobial activity, we propose in this master's project the fractionation of peptides present in the venom of the spider Nephilengys cruentata, the identification of molecules with antimicrobial activity and the determination of their structures by mass spectrometry analysis and search in a transcriptomic database from venom glands. (AU)