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Bosse GD, Urcino C, Watkins M, Flórez Salcedo P, Kozel S, Chase K, Cabang A, Espino SS, Safavi-Hemami H, Raghuraman S, Olivera BM, Peterson RT, Gajewiak J. Discovery of a Potent Conorfamide from Conus episcopatus Using a Novel Zebrafish Larvae Assay. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2021; 84:1232-1243. [PMID: 33764053 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Natural products such as conotoxins have tremendous potential as tools for biomedical research and for the treatment of different human diseases. Conotoxins are peptides present in the venoms of predatory cone snails that have a rich diversity of pharmacological functions. One of the major bottlenecks in natural products research is the rapid identification and evaluation of bioactive molecules. To overcome this limitation, we designed a set of light-induced behavioral assays in zebrafish larvae to screen for bioactive conotoxins. We used this screening approach to test several unique conotoxins derived from different cone snail clades and discovered that a conorfamide from Conus episcopatus, CNF-Ep1, had the most dramatic alterations in the locomotor behavior of zebrafish larvae. Interestingly, CNF-Ep1 is also bioactive in several mouse assay systems when tested in vitro and in vivo. Our novel screening platform can thus accelerate the identification of bioactive marine natural products, and the first compound discovered using this assay has intriguing properties that may uncover novel neuronal circuitry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel D Bosse
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Utah, 201 Skaggs Hall 30 S 2000 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Cristoval Urcino
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Maren Watkins
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Paula Flórez Salcedo
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Utah, 20 S 2030 E, BPRB 490D, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Sabrina Kozel
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Kevin Chase
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - April Cabang
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Samuel S Espino
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Helena Safavi-Hemami
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Utah, 15 N Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, Copenhagen N DK-2200, Denmark
| | - Shrinivasan Raghuraman
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Baldomero M Olivera
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Randall T Peterson
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Utah, 201 Skaggs Hall 30 S 2000 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
| | - Joanna Gajewiak
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Utah, 257 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
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Fu Y, Li C, Dong S, Wu Y, Zhangsun D, Luo S. Discovery Methodology of Novel Conotoxins from Conus Species. Mar Drugs 2018; 16:md16110417. [PMID: 30380764 PMCID: PMC6266589 DOI: 10.3390/md16110417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2018] [Revised: 10/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Cone snail venoms provide an ideal resource for neuropharmacological tools and drug candidates discovery, which have become a research hotspot in neuroscience and new drug development. More than 1,000,000 natural peptides are produced by cone snails, but less than 0.1% of the estimated conotoxins has been characterized to date. Hence, the discovery of novel conotoxins from the huge conotoxin resources with high-throughput and sensitive methods becomes a crucial key for the conotoxin-based drug development. In this review, we introduce the discovery methodology of new conotoxins from various Conus species. It focuses on obtaining full N- to C-terminal sequences, regardless of disulfide bond connectivity through crude venom purification, conotoxin precusor gene cloning, venom duct transcriptomics, venom proteomics and multi-omic methods. The protocols, advantages, disadvantages, and developments of different approaches during the last decade are summarized and the promising prospects are discussed as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Fu
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources, Ministry of Education, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
| | - Cheng Li
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources, Ministry of Education, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
| | - Shuai Dong
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources, Ministry of Education, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
| | - Yong Wu
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources, Ministry of Education, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
| | - Dongting Zhangsun
- Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources, Ministry of Education, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
| | - Sulan Luo
- Key Laboratory for Marine Drugs of Haikou, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
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