Killer Knots: Molecular Evolution of Inhibitor Cystine Knot Toxins in Wandering Spiders (Araneae: Ctenidae).

ABSTRACT: Venom expressed by the nearly 50,000 species of spiders on Earth largely remains an untapped reservoir of a diverse array of biomolecules with potential for pharmacological and agricultural applications. A large fraction of the noxious components of spider venoms are a functionally diverse family of structurally related polypeptides with an inhibitor cystine knot (ICK) motif. The cysteine-rich nature of these toxins makes structural elucidation difficult, and most studies have focused on venom components from the small handful of medically relevant spider species such as the highly aggressive Brazilian wandering spider Phoneutria nigriventer. To alleviate difficulties associated with the study of ICK toxins in spiders, we devised a comprehensive approach to explore the evolutionary

SUBMITTER: Brewer MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9958548 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature