Project description:In order to study the proteome of Echis carinatus carinatus venom of Indian origin, crude venom was fractionated on a Shodex KW-803 gel filtration column coupled to Dionex Ultimate 3000 UHPLC system. The resulting peaks were pooled and subjected to in-solution trypsin digestion and subsequent tandem mass spectrometry analysis. The raw data were then analysed using PEAKS 8.5 software to finally decipher the complex venom proteome.
Project description:In India, venom research has largely focussed on the ‘big four’ snakes that are greatly responsible for the burden of snakebite in the Indian subcontinent. This study aims to advance understanding of saw-scaled viper venoms from India, we implemented a multi-faceted approach. We sequenced the venom gland transcriptome of E. carinatus for the first time, while also characterising its venom proteome. This was followed by the evaluation of the biochemical activities of the major toxins in E. carinatus venoms. Finally, we assessed the in vitro binding efficacy and in vivo neutralising potency of commercial antivenoms against E. carinatus
Project description:we used a combination of bottom-up (BU) and top-down (TD) proteomics approaches to identify and characterize venom protein compositions of Echis carinatus sochureki (ECS) from three different Iranian populations.
Project description:In order to study the proteome of Echis carinatus venom from Sri Lanka (SL ECV), crude SL ECV was subjected to 12.5% SDS-PAGE analysis. The resulting SDS-PAGE bands were subjected to in-gel trypsin digestion and subsequent tandem mass spectrometry analysis. The raw data were then analysed using PEAKS 8.5 software to finally decipher the complex venom proteome.
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:Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography coupled with LC- MS/MS was used to analyze the crude venom extracts of Echis ocellatus (Carpet viper) and Bitis arietans (Puff adder). The gel-free proteomic analysis of the crude venom extracts from E. ocellatus and B. arietans yielded the identification of 86 and 80 proteins, respectively. Seventy- nine proteins were common between the two snake species with a 90.8% similarity. The identified proteins belong to 12 protein families where serine proteases (22.31%) and metalloproteinases (21.06%) were the dominant proteins in the venom of B. arietans. Metalloproteinases (34.84%), phospholipase A 2 s (25.69%) and serine proteases (17.25%) represents the major toxins in the E. ocellatus venom. This study provides some valuable insights into the toxin families to be neutralized in case of envenomation.