Quantitative peptidomics of male and female specimens of the Brazilian snake Bothrops atrox

• Grant number: 19/03502-3
• 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: Adriana Simizo
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The snake Bothrops atrox is known as one of the most lethal to humans in South America. It can be found across the north of the South American continent and east of the Andes. Most of the active biological components of its venom are proteins and peptides, elaborated and refined over millions of years of evolution. Venom toxins have been sources of inspiration for drug research and have been important in elucidating important biochemical and physiological mechanisms in vertebrates. However, despite a large number of sequences revealed and the maturity achieved by proteomic studies, venom peptidomics is still an emerging field. Mass spectrometry-based analytical techniques in peptide studies resulted in the elucidation of novel biologically active venom peptides. It is also observed that few mutations may have significant effects on the biological activities of peptides within the same class. Taking into account the richness of the yet unexplored peptidomes of venoms of Brazilian snakes, we propose in this project the peptidomics analysis of Bothrops atrox venoms with the aim of unraveling peptide sequences present in each venom, mapping differences between males and females and prospect biological activities of new peptides.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ADRIANA SIMIZO; EDUARDO S. KITANO; SÁVIO S. SANTANNA; KATHLEEN FERNANDES GREGO; ANITA MITICO TANAKA-AZEVEDO; ALEXANDRE K. TASHIMA. Comparative gender peptidomics of Bothrops atrox venoms: are there differences between them?. Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases, v. 26, 2020-10-07. (17/20106-9, 17/21052-0, 18/25786-0, 19/03502-3)