The Target Selects the Toxin: Specific Amino Acids in Snake-Prey Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors That Are Selectively Bound by King Cobra Venoms.

ABSTRACT: Snake venom is an adaptive ecological trait that has evolved primarily as a form of prey subjugation. Thus, the selection pressure for toxin diversification is exerted by the prey's physiological targets, with this pressure being particularly acute for specialist feeders, such as the King Cobra species, all of which are snake-prey specialists. However, while extensive research has been undertaken to elucidate key amino acids that guide toxin structure-activity relationships, reciprocal investigations into the specific sites guiding prey-lineage selective effects have been lacking. This has largely been due to the lack of assay systems amenable to systematic amino acid replacements of targeted proteins in the prey's physiological pathways. To fill this knowledge gap, we used a recently desc

SUBMITTER: Chandrasekara U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9416539 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature