Complete sequencing of cysteine rich toxins from the venom of Nephilengys cruentata spider

• Grant number: 19/07629-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2019
• End date: July 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Chemistry of Macromolecules
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Keiji Tashima
• Grantee: Lucas Toshio Ito
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Represented by more than 46,000 species and 4,029 genera, the order Araneae established its evolutionary success, among other reasons, due to the toxic properties of their venoms, enabling the species to defend against predators and to subdue preys. Venomics studies on spiders have been growing over the last years, since proteins and peptides make up most of the venom active molecules. These molecules may present activities of biotechnological interest, such as antibacterial and antifungal activities, as well as interaction with ion channels. The Nephilidae (Araneomorphae) family also presents few "omics" studies on their species, which highlights the importance of the present study, in order to elucidate the biological relevance of cysteine rich toxins from Nephilingis cruentata venom. In a previous study, the proteome and the transcriptome of the N. cruentata venom gland were analyzed, in which we identified several toxins, as proteolytic enzymes and cysteine-rich peptides (PRCs). In silico analyzes indicated the antimicrobial potential of these PRCs. In this work, we propose the fractionation of PRCs, the complete sequencing of these mature toxins by mass spectrometry techniques and the analysis of potential antimicrobial and antitumoral activities by in silico analysis. (AU)