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Chen J, Zhang X, Lin C, Gao B. Synthesis and insecticidal activity of cysteine-free conopeptides from Conus betulinus. Toxicon 2023; 233:107253. [PMID: 37586612 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/18/2023]
Abstract
The cone snail Conus betulinus is a vermivorous species that is widely distributed in the South China Sea. Its crude venom contains various peptides used to prey on marine worms. In previous studies, a systematic analysis of the peptide toxin sequences from C. betulinus was carried out using a multiomics technique. In this study, 10 cysteine-free peptides that may possess insecticidal activity were selected from a previously constructed conopeptide library of C. betulinus using the CPY-Fe conopeptide as a template. These conopeptides were prepared by solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), then characterized by the reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry. Insect cytotoxicity and injection experiments revealed that these cysteine-free peptides exerted favorable insecticidal effects, and two of them (Bt010 and Bt016) exhibited high insecticidal efficacy with LD50 of 9.07 nM and 10.93 nM, respectively. In addition, the 3D structures of these peptides were predicted by homology modeling, and a phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the nucleotide data of conopeptides to analyze the relationships among structures, functions, and evolution. A preliminary mechanism for the insecticidal activity of the cysteine-free conopeptides was predicted by molecular docking. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the insecticidal activity of cysteine-free conopeptides derived from Conus betulinus, signaling that they could potentially be developed into bioinsecticides with desirable properties such as easy preparation, low cost, and high potency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiao Chen
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, Hainan Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
| | - Xueying Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, Hainan Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
| | - Chengzhang Lin
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, Hainan Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China
| | - Bingmiao Gao
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, Hainan Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Tropical Herbs, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, China.
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Kikuchi AKV, Tayo LL. Principal Component and Structural Element Analysis Provide Insights into the Evolutionary Divergence of Conotoxins. Biology (Basel) 2022; 12. [PMID: 36671713 DOI: 10.3390/biology12010020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Predatory cone snails (Conus) developed a sophisticated neuropharmacological mechanism to capture prey, escape against other predators, and deter competitors. Their venom's remarkable specificity for various ion channels and receptors is an evolutionary feat attributable to the venom's variety of peptide components (conotoxins). However, what caused conotoxin divergence remains unclear and may be related to the role of prey shift. Principal component analysis revealed clustering events within diet subgroups indicating peptide sequence similarity patterns based on the prey they subdue. Molecular analyses using multiple sequence alignment and structural element analysis were conducted to observe the events at the molecular level that caused the subgrouping. Three distinct subgroups were identified. Results showed homologous regions and conserved residues within diet subgroups but divergent between other groups. We specified that these structural elements caused subgrouping in alpha conotoxins that may play a role in function specificity. In each diet subgroup, amino acid character, length of intervening amino acids between cysteine residues, and polypeptide length influenced subgrouping. This study provides molecular insights into the role of prey shift, specifically diet preference, in conotoxin divergence.
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Gao B, Huang Y, Peng C, Lin B, Liao Y, Bian C, Yang J, Shi Q. High-Throughput Prediction and Design of Novel Conopeptides for Biomedical Research and Development. Biodes Res 2022; 2022:9895270. [PMID: 37850131 PMCID: PMC10521759 DOI: 10.34133/2022/9895270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/23/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Cone snail venoms have been considered a valuable treasure for international scientists and businessmen, mainly due to their pharmacological applications in development of marine drugs for treatment of various human diseases. To date, around 800 Conus species are recorded, and each of them produces over 1,000 venom peptides (termed as conopeptides or conotoxins). This reflects the high diversity and complexity of cone snails, although most of their venoms are still uncharacterized. Advanced multiomics (such as genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics) approaches have been recently developed to mine diverse Conus venom samples, with the main aim to predict and identify potentially interesting conopeptides in an efficient way. Some bioinformatics techniques have been applied to predict and design novel conopeptide sequences, related targets, and their binding modes. This review provides an overview of current knowledge on the high diversity of conopeptides and multiomics advances in high-throughput prediction of novel conopeptide sequences, as well as molecular modeling and design of potential drugs based on the predicted or validated interactions between these toxins and their molecular targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingmiao Gao
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan 570102, China
| | - Yu Huang
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518081, China
| | - Chao Peng
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518081, China
- BGI-Marine Research Institute for Biomedical Technology, Shenzhen Huahong Marine Biomedicine Co. Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong 518119, China
| | - Bo Lin
- Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Intervention, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan 570102, China
| | - Yanling Liao
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Translational Medicine of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, Hainan 570102, China
| | - Chao Bian
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518081, China
| | - Jiaan Yang
- Research and Development Department, Micro Pharmtech Ltd., Wuhan, Hubei 430075, China
| | - Qiong Shi
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518081, China
- BGI-Marine Research Institute for Biomedical Technology, Shenzhen Huahong Marine Biomedicine Co. Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong 518119, China
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Wang H, Li Y, Yang M, Zhou M. Synthesis and characterization of αM-conotoxin SIIID, a reversible human α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist. Toxicon 2022; 210:141-147. [DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2022.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Zamora-Bustillos R, Martínez-Núñez MA, Aguilar MB, Collí-Dula RC, Brito-Domínguez DA. Identification of Novel Conotoxin Precursors from the Cone Snail Conus spurius by High-Throughput RNA Sequencing. Mar Drugs 2021; 19:547. [PMID: 34677446 DOI: 10.3390/md19100547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Marine gastropods of the genus Conus, comprising more than 800 species, have the characteristic of injecting worms and other prey with venom. These conopeptide toxins, highly diverse in structure and action, are highly potent and specific for their molecular targets (ion channels, receptors, and transporters of the prey's nervous system), and thus are important research tools and source for drug discovery. Next-generation sequencing technologies are speeding up the discovery of novel conopeptides in many of these species, but only limited information is available for Conus spurius, which inhabits sandy mud. To search for new precursor conopeptides, we analyzed the transcriptome of the venous ducts of C. spurius and identified 55 putative conotoxins. Seven were selected for further study and confirmed by Sanger sequencing to belong to the M-superfamily (Sr3.M01 and Sr3.M02), A-superfamily (Sr1.A01 and Sr1.A02), O-superfamily (Sr15.O01), and Con-ikot-ikot (Sr21.CII01 and Sr22.CII02). Six of these have never been reported. To our knowledge, this report is the first to use high-throughput RNA sequencing for the study of the diversity of C. spurius conotoxins.
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Yang M, Li Y, Liu L, Zhou M. A novel proline-rich M-superfamily conotoxin that can simultaneously affect sodium, potassium and calcium currents. J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis 2021; 27:e20200164. [PMID: 34234819 PMCID: PMC8230863 DOI: 10.1590/1678-9199-jvatitd-2020-0164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Conotoxins have become a research hotspot in the neuropharmacology field for their high activity and specificity in targeting ion channels and neurotransmitter receptors. There have been reports of a conotoxin acting on two ion channels, but rare reports of a conotoxin acting on three ion channels. Methods Vr3a, a proline-rich M-superfamily conotoxin from a worm-hunting Conus varius, was obtained by solid-phase synthesis and identified by mass spectrometry. The effects of synthesized Vr3a on sodium, potassium and calcium currents were tested on rat DRG cells by patch clamp experiments. The further effects of Vr3a on human Cav1.2 and Cav2.2 currents were tested on HEK293 cells. Results About 10 μM Vr3a has no effects on the peak sodium currents, but can induce a ~10 mV shift in a polarizing direction in the current-voltage relationship. In addition, 10 μM Vr3a can increase 19.61 ± 5.12% of the peak potassium currents and do not induce a shift in the current-voltage relationship. An amount of 10 μM Vr3a can inhibit 31.26% ± 4.53% of the peak calcium currents and do not induce a shift in the current-voltage relationship. The IC50 value of Vr3a on calcium channel currents in rat DRG neurons is 19.28 ± 4.32 μM. Moreover, 10 μM Vr3a can inhibit 15.32% ± 5.41% of the human Cav1.2 currents and 12.86% ± 4.93% of the human Cav2.2 currents. Conclusions Vr3a can simultaneously affect sodium, potassium and calcium currents. This novel triple-target conotoxin Vr3a expands understanding of conotoxin functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manyi Yang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, NHC Key Laboratory of Nanobiological Technology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Yubin Li
- Department of Oncology, State Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Anticancer Drugs, NHC Key Laboratory of Cancer Proteomics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Longfei Liu
- Department of Urology, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorder, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Maojun Zhou
- Department of Oncology, State Local Joint Engineering Laboratory for Anticancer Drugs, NHC Key Laboratory of Cancer Proteomics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
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Abstract
Previous studies have indicated that each conotoxin precursor has a hyperconserved signal region, a rather conserved pro region and a hypervariable mature region, and nucleotide mutations are the main driven factor. However, in this study, we made an in-depth analysis on the M-superfamily conotoxin precursors and found that the diversity of the signal, pro and mature regions are more complicated than previous findings. Different conotoxin precursors can have same signal, pro and/or mature regions, especially different conotoxin precursors with same mature region but different signal and pro regions. In addition, insertions and deletions (indels) were detected in conotoxin precursors. Indels are infrequent in the signal region but frequent in the pro and mature regions. In contrast to deletions that dominate in the pro region, insertions dominate in the mature region. The number of amino acids is crucial for the physiological functions of mature conotoxins, therefore indels, especially insertions in the mature region, play an important role in the sequence and function diversity of conotoxins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manyi Yang
- Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, NHC Key Laboratory of Nanobiological Technology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, People's Republic of China
| | - Maojun Zhou
- Department of Oncology, Laboratory of Structural Biology, NHC Key Laboratory of Cancer Proteomics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, People's Republic of China.
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Jiang H, Li L, Zhang J, Wan Z, Wang Y, Hou J, Yu Y. MiR-101-3p and Syn-Cal14.1a Synergy in Suppressing EZH2-Induced Progression of Breast Cancer. Onco Targets Ther 2020; 13:9599-9609. [PMID: 33061442 PMCID: PMC7532305 DOI: 10.2147/ott.s264600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective EZH2 is the catalytic subunit of the polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and has been documented as an oncogene in breast cancer. The microRNA (miR)-101-3p can suppress breast cancer progression by targeting with EZH2. Syn-cal14.1a, a synthetic peptide derived from Californiconus californicus (Cal14.1a), can decrease the cell viability and activate the cell apoptosis in cancer. In this study, we explored whether the synergy of miR-101-3p mimic and syn-cal14.1a could inhibit the expression of EZH2. We also investigated this binding treatment’s effects on the suppression of breast cancer cells. Methods MiR-101-3p mimic was transfected and syn-cal14.1a was added in SK-BR-3 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The expression of EZH2 protein level was determined. Then, cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis were observed. Results MiR-101-3p and syn-cal14.1a, when applied together, exerted a synergistic anti-EZH2 expression in breast cancer cells. The combination of miR-101-3p and syn-cal14.1a synergistically suppressed the EZH2-induced breast cancer cell migration, invasion, and proliferation. In parallel, this synergy treatment was able to promote the apoptosis of breast cancer cells. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing inhibition of EZH2 in human breast cancer cell lines by syn-cal14.1a. Conclusion The anti-EZH2 roles of miR-101-3p and/or syn-cal14.1a could provide an effective therapeutic strategy in breast cancer. These data provide significant insights into molecular mechanisms of breast cancer and may have benefits in clinical therapeutics for breast cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huabo Jiang
- Clinical and Translational Research Center, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Li Li
- Assisted Reproduction Technology Center, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingjing Zhang
- Department of Plastic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhong Wan
- Urologic Medical Center, Shanghai General Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuanyuan Wang
- Department of Health Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingjing Hou
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Institute of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, People's Republic of China
| | - Yongsheng Yu
- Clinical and Translational Research Center, Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China
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Abstract
The venom of the marine predatory cone snails (genus Conus) has evolved for prey capture and defense, providing the basis for survival and rapid diversification of the now estimated 750+ species. A typical Conus venom contains hundreds to thousands of bioactive peptides known as conotoxins. These mostly disulfide-rich and well-structured peptides act on a wide range of targets such as ion channels, G protein-coupled receptors, transporters, and enzymes. Conotoxins are of interest to neuroscientists as well as drug developers due to their exquisite potency and selectivity, not just against prey but also mammalian targets, thereby providing a rich source of molecular probes and therapeutic leads. The rise of integrated venomics has accelerated conotoxin discovery with now well over 10,000 conotoxin sequences published. However, their structural and pharmacological characterization lags considerably behind. In this review, we highlight the diversity of new conotoxins uncovered since 2014, their three-dimensional structures and folds, novel chemical approaches to their syntheses, and their value as pharmacological tools to unravel complex biology. Additionally, we discuss challenges and future directions for the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ai-Hua Jin
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - Markus Muttenthaler
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane Queensland 4072 , Australia.,Institute of Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry , University of Vienna , 1090 Vienna , Austria
| | - Sebastien Dutertre
- Département des Acides Amines, Peptides et Protéines, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5247, Université Montpellier 2-Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique , Institut des Biomolécules Max Mousseron , Place Eugène Bataillon , 34095 Montpellier Cedex 5 , France
| | - S W A Himaya
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - Quentin Kaas
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - David J Craik
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - Richard J Lewis
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane Queensland 4072 , Australia
| | - Paul F Alewood
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience , The University of Queensland , Brisbane Queensland 4072 , Australia
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Gao B, Peng C, Zhu Y, Sun Y, Zhao T, Huang Y, Shi Q. High Throughput Identification of Novel Conotoxins from the Vermivorous Oak Cone Snail ( Conus quercinus) by Transcriptome Sequencing. Int J Mol Sci 2018; 19:ijms19123901. [PMID: 30563163 PMCID: PMC6321112 DOI: 10.3390/ijms19123901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 12/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The primary objective of this study was to realize the large-scale discovery of conotoxin sequences from different organs (including the venom duct, venom bulb and salivary gland) of the vermivorous Oak cone snail, Conus quercinus. Using high-throughput transcriptome sequencing, we identified 133 putative conotoxins that belong to 34 known superfamilies, of which nine were previously reported while the remaining 124 were novel conotoxins, with 17 in new and unassigned conotoxin groups. A-, O1-, M-, and I2- superfamilies were the most abundant, and the cysteine frameworks XIII and VIII were observed for the first time in the A- and I2-superfamilies. The transcriptome data from the venom duct, venom bulb and salivary gland showed considerable inter-organizational variations. Each organ had many exclusive conotoxins, and only seven of all the inferred mature peptides were common in the three organs. As expected, most of the identified conotoxins were synthesized in the venom duct at relatively high levels; however, a number of conotoxins were also identified in the venom bulb and the salivary gland with very low transcription levels. Therefore, various organs have different conotoxins with high diversity, suggesting greater contributions from several organs to the high-throughput discovery of new conotoxins for future drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingmiao Gao
- Hainan Provincial Key Laboratory of Research and Development of Herbs, College of Pharmacy, Hainan Medical University, Haikou 571199, China.
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
| | - Chao Peng
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
| | - Yabing Zhu
- BGI Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
| | - Yuhui Sun
- BGI Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China.
- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| | - Tian Zhao
- Chemistry Department, College of Art and Science, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
| | - Yu Huang
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
- BGI Education Center, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518083, China.
| | - Qiong Shi
- Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
- BGI Education Center, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518083, China.
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Zhang H, Fu Y, Wang L, Liang A, Chen S, Xu A. Identifying novel conopepetides from the venom ducts of Conus litteratus through integrating transcriptomics and proteomics. J Proteomics 2018; 192:346-357. [PMID: 30267875 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2018.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2018] [Revised: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 09/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
The venom ducts of marine cone snails secrete highly complex mixtures of cysteine-rich active peptides, which are generally known as conotoxins or conopeptides and provide a potential fertile resource for pharmacological neuroscience research and the discovery of new drugs. Previous studies have devoted substantial effort to the identification of novel conopeptides, and the 109 cone snail species have yielded 7000 known conopeptides to date. Here, we used de novo deep transcriptome sequencing analyses combined with traditional Sanger sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to identify 30 distinct conopeptide precursors. Twenty of these were previously reported and the other 10 were novel conopeptide precursors. The study provides the first identification of the Con-ikot-ikot, NSF-bt05, O3 and I1 gene superfamilies in C. litteratus. A new putative superfamily was identified. In addition, the following cysteine frameworks were first identified in this study: CC-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-CC-C-C-C-C-C and C-C-C-C-C-CC-C. Several isomerases involved in post-translational modification of conopeptides were identified as well. The discovery of new conopeptides in C. litteratus will enhance our understanding of the conopeptide diversity in this particular clade of cone snails. We also found the existence of intraspecific variations in vermivorous species. Finally, the analysis strategy offers a relatively reliable workflow for screening for peptide drug candidates. SIGNIFICANCE: These novel conopeptides provide a potential resource for the development of new channel-targeting drugs. The intraspecific variation in C. litteratus enhance our understanding of the conopeptide diversity in this particular clade of cone snails. The identified three cysteine residues, which might participate in the formation of disulfide bonds, provide a clue to get the connectivity of cysteine frameworks. Finally, the analysis strategy offers a relatively reliable workflow for screening for peptide drug candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Shenzhen Research Institute, Sun Yat-Sen University, People's Republic of China
| | - Yonggui Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Shenzhen Research Institute, Sun Yat-Sen University, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Shenzhen Research Institute, Sun Yat-Sen University, People's Republic of China
| | - Anwen Liang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Shangwu Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; Shenzhen Research Institute, Sun Yat-Sen University, People's Republic of China.
| | - Anlong Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China; School of Life Science, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China.
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Hua Y, Wang B, Zhao N, Lou W, Yang J. Synthesis and Functional Identification of Oligopeptides Derived from the α3/5-Conotoxins. Int J Pept Res Ther 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10989-017-9609-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Wang L, Wang X, Ren Z, Tang W, Zou Q, Wang J, Chen S, Zhang H, Xu A. Oxidative Folding of Conopeptides Modified by Conus Protein Disulfide Isomerase. Protein J 2017; 36:407-416. [DOI: 10.1007/s10930-017-9738-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Wang L, Liu J, Ren Z, Chen Y, Xu A. Discovery of two P-superfamily conotoxins, lt9a and lt9b, with different modifications on voltage-sensitive sodium channels. Toxicon 2017; 134:6-13. [DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2017.05.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2016] [Revised: 05/15/2017] [Accepted: 05/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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Franklin JB, Rajesh RP, Vinithkumar NV, Kirubagaran R. Identification of short single disulfide-containing contryphans from the venom of cone snails using de novo mass spectrometry-based sequencing methods. Toxicon 2017; 132:50-54. [PMID: 28400262 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2017.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Revised: 04/05/2017] [Accepted: 04/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jayaseelan Benjamin Franklin
- Andaman and Nicobar Centre for Ocean Science and Technology, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Dollygunj, Port Blair 744103, India.
| | | | - Nambali Valsalan Vinithkumar
- Andaman and Nicobar Centre for Ocean Science and Technology, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Dollygunj, Port Blair 744103, India
| | - Ramalingam Kirubagaran
- Marine Biotechnology Division, Ocean Science and Technology for Islands, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Pallikaranai, Chennai 600100, India
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Yang M, Zhao S, Min X, Shao M, Chen Y, Chen Z, Zhou M. A novel μ-conotoxin from worm-hunting Conus tessulatus that selectively inhibit rat TTX-resistant sodium currents. Toxicon 2017; 130:11-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2017.02.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2016] [Revised: 02/01/2017] [Accepted: 02/16/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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17
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Abstract
Ever since Luria and Delbruck, the notion that mutation is random with respect to fitness has been foundational to modern biology. However, various studies have claimed striking exceptions to this rule. One influential case involves toxin-encoding genes in snails of the genus Conus, termed conotoxins, a large gene family that undergoes rapid diversification of their protein-coding sequences by positive selection. Previous reconstructions of the sequence evolution of conotoxin genes claimed striking patterns: (1) elevated synonymous change, interpreted as being due to targeted "hypermutation" in this region; (2) elevated transversion-to-transition ratios, interpreted as reflective of the particular mechanism of hypermutation; and (3) much lower rates of synonymous change in the codons encoding several highly conserved cysteine residues, interpreted as strong position-specific codon bias. This work has spawned a variety of studies on the potential mechanisms of hypermutation and on causes for cysteine codon bias, and has inspired hypermutation hypotheses for various other fast-evolving genes. Here, I show that all three findings are likely to be artifacts of statistical reconstruction. First, by simulating nonsynonymous change I show that high rates of dN can lead to overestimation of dS. Second, I show that there is no evidence for any of these three patterns in comparisons of closely related conotoxin sequences, suggesting that the reported findings are due to breakdown of statistical methods at high levels of sequence divergence. The current findings suggest that mutation and codon bias in conotoxin genes may not be atypical, and that random mutation and selection can explain the evolution of even these exceptional loci.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott W Roy
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University
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18
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Peng C, Yao G, Gao BM, Fan CX, Bian C, Wang J, Cao Y, Wen B, Zhu Y, Ruan Z, Zhao X, You X, Bai J, Li J, Lin Z, Zou S, Zhang X, Qiu Y, Chen J, Coon SL, Yang J, Chen JS, Shi Q. High-throughput identification of novel conotoxins from the Chinese tubular cone snail (Conus betulinus) by multi-transcriptome sequencing. Gigascience 2016; 5:17. [PMID: 27087938 PMCID: PMC4832519 DOI: 10.1186/s13742-016-0122-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2015] [Accepted: 04/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background The venom of predatory marine cone snails mainly contains a diverse array of unique bioactive peptides commonly referred to as conopeptides or conotoxins. These peptides have proven to be valuable pharmacological probes and potential drugs because of their high specificity and affinity to important ion channels, receptors and transporters of the nervous system. Most previous studies have focused specifically on the conopeptides from piscivorous and molluscivorous cone snails, but little attention has been devoted to the dominant vermivorous species. Results The vermivorous Chinese tubular cone snail, Conus betulinus, is the dominant Conus species inhabiting the South China Sea. The transcriptomes of venom ducts and venom bulbs from a variety of specimens of this species were sequenced using both next-generation sequencing and traditional Sanger sequencing technologies, resulting in the identification of a total of 215 distinct conopeptides. Among these, 183 were novel conopeptides, including nine new superfamilies. It appeared that most of the identified conopeptides were synthesized in the venom duct, while a handful of conopeptides were identified only in the venom bulb and at very low levels. Conclusions We identified 215 unique putative conopeptide transcripts from the combination of five transcriptomes and one EST sequencing dataset. Variation in conopeptides from different specimens of C. betulinus was observed, which suggested the presence of intraspecific variability in toxin production at the genetic level. These novel conopeptides provide a potentially fertile resource for the development of new pharmaceuticals, and a pathway for the discovery of new conotoxins. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13742-016-0122-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Peng
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | - Ge Yao
- Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Beijing, 102205 China
| | - Bing-Miao Gao
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571199 China
| | - Chong-Xu Fan
- Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Beijing, 102205 China
| | - Chao Bian
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | | | - Ying Cao
- Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Beijing, 102205 China
| | - Bo Wen
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | | | - Zhiqiang Ruan
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | | | - Xinxin You
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | - Jie Bai
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | - Jia Li
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | | | | | - Xinhui Zhang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | - Ying Qiu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | - Jieming Chen
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China
| | - Steven L Coon
- Molecular Genomics Laboratory, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA
| | - Jiaan Yang
- Micro Pharmatech Ltd, Wuhan, 430075 China
| | - Ji-Sheng Chen
- Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Beijing, 102205 China
| | - Qiong Shi
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Genomics, Shenzhen, 518083 China ; BGI-Zhenjiang Institute of Hydrobiology, Zhenjiang, 212000 China
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Oroz-Parra I, Navarro M, Cervantes-Luevano KE, Álvarez-Delgado C, Salvesen G, Sanchez-Campos LN, Licea-Navarro AF. Apoptosis Activation in Human Lung Cancer Cell Lines by a Novel Synthetic Peptide Derived from Conus californicus Venom. Toxins (Basel) 2016; 8:38. [PMID: 26861394 DOI: 10.3390/toxins8020038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2015] [Revised: 01/26/2016] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in men and women and a leading cause of death worldwide resulting in more than one million deaths per year. The venom of marine snails Conus contains up to 200 pharmacologically active compounds that target several receptors in the cell membrane. Due to their diversity and specific binding properties, Conus toxins hold great potential as source of new drugs against cancer. We analyzed the cytotoxic effect of a 17-amino acid synthetic peptide (s-cal14.1a) that is based on a native toxin (cal14.1a) isolated from the sea snail Conus californicus. Cytotoxicity studies in four lung cancer cell lines were complemented with measurement of gene expression of apoptosis-related proteins Bcl-2, BAX and the pro-survival proteins NFκB-1 and COX-2, as well as quantification of caspase activity. Our results showed that H1299 and H1437 cell lines treated with s-call4.1a had decreased cell viability, activated caspases, and reduced expression of the pro-survival protein NFκB-1. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing activation of apoptosis in human lung cancer cell lines by s-cal14.1a and we offer insight into the possible mechanism of action.
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20
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Lavergne V, Harliwong I, Jones A, Miller D, Taft RJ, Alewood PF. Optimized deep-targeted proteotranscriptomic profiling reveals unexplored Conus toxin diversity and novel cysteine frameworks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:E3782-91. [PMID: 26150494 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1501334112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Cone snails are predatory marine gastropods characterized by a sophisticated venom apparatus responsible for the biosynthesis and delivery of complex mixtures of cysteine-rich toxin peptides. These conotoxins fold into small highly structured frameworks, allowing them to potently and selectively interact with heterologous ion channels and receptors. Approximately 2,000 toxins from an estimated number of >70,000 bioactive peptides have been identified in the genus Conus to date. Here, we describe a high-resolution interrogation of the transcriptomes (available at www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp) and proteomes of the diverse compartments of the Conus episcopatus venom apparatus. Using biochemical and bioinformatic tools, we found the highest number of conopeptides yet discovered in a single Conus specimen, with 3,305 novel precursor toxin sequences classified into 9 known superfamilies (A, I1, I2, M, O1, O2, S, T, Z), and identified 16 new superfamilies showing unique signal peptide signatures. We were also able to depict the largest population of venom peptides containing the pharmacologically active C-C-CC-C-C inhibitor cystine knot and CC-C-C motifs (168 and 44 toxins, respectively), as well as 208 new conotoxins displaying odd numbers of cysteine residues derived from known conotoxin motifs. Importantly, six novel cysteine-rich frameworks were revealed which may have novel pharmacology. Finally, analyses of codon usage bias and RNA-editing processes of the conotoxin transcripts demonstrate a specific conservation of the cysteine skeleton at the nucleic acid level and provide new insights about the origin of sequence hypervariablity in mature toxin regions.
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21
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Zhou M, Wang L, Wu Y, Liu J, Sun D, Zhu X, Feng Y, Qin M, Chen S, Xu A. Soluble expression and sodium channel activity of lt16a, a novel framework XVI conotoxin from the M-superfamily. Toxicon 2015; 98:5-11. [DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2015.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2014] [Revised: 01/13/2015] [Accepted: 01/15/2015] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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22
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Nguyen B, Caer JPL, Mourier G, Thai R, Lamthanh H, Servent D, Benoit E, Molgó J. Characterization of a novel Conus bandanus conopeptide belonging to the M-superfamily containing bromotryptophan. Mar Drugs 2014; 12:3449-65. [PMID: 24905483 PMCID: PMC4071585 DOI: 10.3390/md12063449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2014] [Revised: 03/07/2014] [Accepted: 05/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
A novel conotoxin (conopeptide) was biochemically characterized from the crude venom of the molluscivorous marine snail, Conus bandanus (Hwass in Bruguière, 1792), collected in the south-central coast of Vietnam. The peptide was identified by screening bromotryptophan from chromatographic fractions of the crude venom. Tandem mass spectrometry techniques were used to detect and localize different post-translational modifications (PTMs) present in the BnIIID conopeptide. The sequence was confirmed by Edman’s degradation and mass spectrometry revealing that the purified BnIIID conopeptide had 15 amino acid residues, with six cysteines at positions 1, 2, 7, 11, 13, and 14, and three PTMs: bromotryptophan, γ-carboxy glutamate, and amidated aspartic acid, at positions “4”, “5”, and “15”, respectively. The BnIIID peptide was synthesized for comparison with the native peptide. Homology comparison with conopeptides having the III-cysteine framework (–CCx1x2x3x4Cx1x2x3Cx1CC–) revealed that BnIIID belongs to the M-1 family of conotoxins. This is the first report of a member of the M-superfamily containing bromotryptophan as PTM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bao Nguyen
- Neurobiology and Development Laboratory, Research Unit # 3294, Institute of Neurobiology Alfred Fessard # 2118, National Center for Scientific Research, Gif sur Yvette Cedex 91198, France.
| | - Jean-Pierre Le Caer
- Research Unit # 2301, Natural Product Chemistry Institute, National Center for Scientific Research, Gif sur Yvette Cedex 91198, France.
| | - Gilles Mourier
- Molecular Engineering of Proteins, Institute of Biology and Technology Saclay, Atomic Energy Commission, Gif sur Yvette Cedex 91191, France.
| | - Robert Thai
- Molecular Engineering of Proteins, Institute of Biology and Technology Saclay, Atomic Energy Commission, Gif sur Yvette Cedex 91191, France.
| | - Hung Lamthanh
- Neurobiology and Development Laboratory, Research Unit # 3294, Institute of Neurobiology Alfred Fessard # 2118, National Center for Scientific Research, Gif sur Yvette Cedex 91198, France.
| | - Denis Servent
- Molecular Engineering of Proteins, Institute of Biology and Technology Saclay, Atomic Energy Commission, Gif sur Yvette Cedex 91191, France.
| | - Evelyne Benoit
- Neurobiology and Development Laboratory, Research Unit # 3294, Institute of Neurobiology Alfred Fessard # 2118, National Center for Scientific Research, Gif sur Yvette Cedex 91198, France.
| | - Jordi Molgó
- Neurobiology and Development Laboratory, Research Unit # 3294, Institute of Neurobiology Alfred Fessard # 2118, National Center for Scientific Research, Gif sur Yvette Cedex 91198, France.
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Wu Y, Wang L, Zhou M, Jiang X, Zhu X, Chen Y, Luo S, You Y, Ren Z, Xu A. Soluble expression, purification and functional identification of the framework XV conotoxins derived from different Conus species. Peptides 2014; 56:77-83. [PMID: 24703966 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2014.03.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2013] [Revised: 03/14/2014] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
The conotoxin cysteine framework XV (-C-C-CC-C-C-C-C-), which was named Lt15a, was firstly identified from the cDNA library of Conus litteratus. After that, 18 new framework XV conotoxin sequences were cloned from nine Conus species. Like other conopeptides, the XV-conotoxins have the conserved signal peptide and propeptide, and there are also some conserved residues in their mature peptide. All the framework XV conotoxins were apparently converged into two branches, because of the indel and point mutations occurred in their mature peptides. By fused with thioredoxin and 6×His tag, six XV-conotoxins were successfully expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. Different framework XV conotoxins have distinct biological activities on mice and frogs, and that may be related to the diversity of the toxin sequences. All the six XV-conotoxins had no obvious effects on the sodium currents of DRG neuron cells of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The identification of this framework of conotoxins enriches our understanding of the structural and functional diversity of conotoxin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yun Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Maojun Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiuhua Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaoyan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Yu Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Shaonan Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuwen You
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhenghua Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China
| | - Anlong Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Functional Genes, National Engineering Research Center of South China Sea Marine Biotechnology, Department of Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, People's Republic of China; Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, 11 Dong Shan Huan Road, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China.
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