Peptidomic analysis of the Asian snake Naja kaouthia venom

• Grant number: 19/04813-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2019
• End date: June 30, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Keiji Tashima
• Grantee: Jackelinne Yuka Hayashi
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The genus of snakes Naja, also known by the popular name "cobra-de-capelo" is characteristic for aggregating venomous and very aggressive animals, counting approximately 29 species. Among them is the Naja kaouthia, also known as monocle snake or monocle. Venomous snakes use venoms to subdue prey and as protection against predators. Venoms are composed of biologically active peptidic and proteic toxins, and the development of new omics tools resulted in the elucidation of thousands of new sequences of these snake toxins in recent years. There are venomics studies describing the protein profile present in the venom of the Naja kaouthia snake. But to our knowledge, there are no peptidomic study on the venom of this snake. In face of the potential richness of new active peptides still unexplored of the Naja kaouthia venom, we propose in this project the comparative peptidomic analysis of the venom of male and female specimens. The objective of the project is to discover the peptide sequences present in each venom, to map mutations of homologous sequences, to quantitatively analyze the peptides of males and females and to prospect in silico potential biological activities of new peptides. (AU)