Project description:While cellular transcripts encode rich information that provide key features to understand the molecular basis of snake venom variation, their presence/ abundance does not necessary imply/correlate in the translation of a functional (protein) product. In this study we carried out an analysis of the venom gland proteome of Bothrops jararaca taking into account two distinct phases of its ontogenetic development (i.e. newborn and adult specimens) and the marked sexual dimorphism recently reported on its venom proteome. Proteomic data analysis showed wider dynamic range for toxins when comparing to non-toxins and a dynamic proteome rearrangement in cellular proteins upon B. jararaca development. Differentially expressed proteins covered a number of biological pathways related to protein synthesis, including proteins related to transcription and translation, which were found to be significantly higher expressed in the newborn venom gland. Our results showed that the variation in the expression levels of cellular proteins gives rise to an even higher variation in the dynamic range of the expressed toxins. Upon ageing, the molecular constraints related to protein synthesis together with ecological traits would likely have an impact on the toxin repertoire, which, in the case of B. jararaca species, would enable the species to deal with different prey types during its lifespan.
Project description:In this work of Kisaki et al, we analyze the variation of proteome responses upon treatment of breast cancer cell lines MCF7 and MDA-MB231 with Bothrops jararaca snake venom
Project description:Background The generalist dipteran pupal parasitoid Nasonia vitripennis injects 79 venom peptides into the host before egg laying. This venom induces several important changes in the host, including developmental arrest, immunosuppression, and alterations to normal metabolism. It is hoped that diverse and potent bioactivities of N. vitripennis venom provide an opportunity for the design of novel acting drugs. However, currently very little is known about the individual functions of N. vitripennis venom peptides and less than half can be bioinformatically annotated. The paucity of annotation information complicates the design of studies that seek to better understand the potential mechanisms underlying the envenomation response. Although the RNA interference system of N. vitripennis provides an opportunity to functionally characterise venom encoding genes, with 79 candidates this represents a daunting task. For this reason we were interested in determining the expression levels of venom encoding genes in the venom gland, such that this information could be used to rank candidate venoms. To do this we carried out deep sequencing of the transcriptome of the venom gland and neighbouring ovary tissue and used RNA-seq to measure expression from the 79 venom encoding genes. The generation of a specific venom gland transcriptome dataset also provides further opportunities to investigate novel features of this highly specialised organ. Results High throughput sequencing and RNA-seq revealed that the highest expressed venom encoding gene in the venom gland was a serine protease called Nasvi2EG007167, which has previously been implicated in the apoptotic activity of N. vitripennis venom. As expected the RNA-seq confirmed that the N. vitripennis venom encoding genes are almost exclusively expressed in the venom gland relative to the neighbouring ovary tissue. Novel peptides appear to perform key roles in N. vitripennis venom function as only four of the highest 15 expressed venom encoding genes are bioinformatically annotationed. The high throughput sequencing data also provided evidence for the existence of an additional 471 novel genes in the Nasonia genome that are expressed in the venom gland and ovary. Finally, metagenomic analysis of venom gland transcripts identified viral transcripts that may play an important part in the N. vitripennis venom function. Conclusions The expression level information provided here for the 79 venom encoding genes provides an unbiased dataset that can be used by the N. vitripennis community to identify high value candidates for further functional characterisation. These candidates represent bioactive peptides that have value in drug development pipelines.
Project description:Cellular and inflammatory events were evaluated in mouse muscle after snake venoms Daboia russelii and Bothrops asper injection over time. A murine model of muscle necrosis based on venom injection was used to investigate up to 800 genes involved in fibrosis diseases and tissue regeneration using the multiplex RNA panel Fibrosis V2 from NanoString technology.