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Preprint VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Preprint
Enlighting the toxinological dark matter of spider venom enzymes
bioRxiv, Vol.29 February 2024
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
2024
Abstract
Spiders produce highly adapted venoms featuring a complex mixture of biomolecules used mainly for hunting and defense. The most prominent components are peptidic neurotoxins, which have been the focus of research and drug development, whereas venom enzymes have been largely neglected. Nevertheless, investigation of venom enzymes not only reveals insights into their biological functions, but also provides templates for future industrial applications. Here we compared spider venom enzymes contained in the VenomZone database and in other publicly available proteo-transcriptomic datasets. We found extensive discrepancies between these sources, revealing a previously unrecognized abundance and diversity of venom enzymes. Furthermore, we assigned the reported enzymes to cellular processes and known venom functions, including toxicity, prey pre-digestion, venom preservation, venom component activation, and venom spreading factors. Our study reveals a gap between databases and publications in terms of enzyme coverage which impedes development of new applications based on the rich and diverse spectrum of enzymes contained in spider venom.
Details
- Title
- Enlighting the toxinological dark matter of spider venom enzymes
- Authors
- Josephine Dresler (Corresponding Author) - Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied EcologyVolker Herzig - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for BioinnovationAndreas Vilcinskas - Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied EcologyTim Lüddecke - Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology
- Publication details
- bioRxiv, Vol.29 February 2024
- Publisher
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1101/2024.02.27.582330
- ISSN
- 2692-8205
- Copyright note
- The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-ND 4.0 International license.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991011698102621
- Output Type
- Preprint
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