New Insectotoxin from Tibellus Oblongus Spider Venom Presents Novel Adaptation of ICK Fold

Spider-Venom Peptides: Structure, Bioactivity, Strategy, and Research Applications

Spiders (Araneae), having thrived for over 300 million years, exhibit remarkable diversity, with 47,000 described species and an estimated 150,000 species in existence. Evolving with intricate venom, spiders are nature's skilled predators. While only a small fraction of spiders pose a threat to humans, their venoms contain complex compounds, holding promise as drug leads. Spider venoms primarily serve to immobilize prey, achieved through neurotoxins targeting ion channels. Peptides constitute a major part of these venoms, displaying diverse pharmacological activities, and making them appealing for drug development. Moreover, spider-venom peptides have emerged as valuable tools for exploring human disease mechanisms. This review focuses on the roles of spider-venom peptides in spider survival strategies and their dual significance as pharmaceutical research tools. By integrating recent discoveries, it provides a comprehensive overview of these peptides, their targets, bioactivities, and their relevance in spider survival and medical research.

Venom-gland transcriptomics and venom proteomics of the Tibellus oblongus spider

The Tibellus oblongus spider is an active hunter that does not spin webs and remains highly underinvestigated in terms of the venom composition. Here, we describe venom glands transcriptome and venom proteome analysis for unveiling the polypeptide composition of Tibellus oblongus spider venom. The resulting EST database includes 1733 records, including 1263 nucleotide sequences with ORFs, of these 942 have been identified as toxin-coding. The database of peptide sequences was built based on of the transcriptomics results. It contains 217 new toxins, 212 of them were detected in the T. oblongus venom by the proteomics.

Cysteine-rich peptides: From bioactivity to bioinsecticide applications

Greater levels of insect resistance and constraints on the use of current pesticides have recently led to increased crop losses in agricultural production. Further, the health and environmental impacts of pesticides now restrict their application. Biologics based on peptides are gaining popularity as efficient crop protection agents with low environmental toxicity. Cysteine-rich peptides (whether originated from venoms or plant defense substances) are chemically stable and effective as insecticides in agricultural applications. Cysteine-rich peptides fulfill the stability and efficacy requirements for commercial uses and provide an environmentally benign alternative to small-molecule insecticides. In this article, cysteine-rich insecticidal peptide classes identified from plants and venoms will be highlighted, focusing on their structural stability, bioactivity and production.

Advanced Situation with Recombinant Toxins: Diversity, Production and Application Purposes

Today, the production and use of various samples of recombinant protein/polypeptide toxins is known and is actively developing. This review presents state-of-the-art in research and development of such toxins and their mechanisms of action and useful properties that have allowed them to be implemented into practice to treat various medical conditions (including oncology and chronic inflammation applications) and diseases, as well as to identify novel compounds and to detoxify them by diverse approaches (including enzyme antidotes). Special attention is given to the problems and possibilities of the toxicity control of the obtained recombinant proteins. The recombinant prions are discussed in the frame of their possible detoxification by enzymes. The review discusses the feasibility of obtaining recombinant variants of toxins in the form of protein molecules modified with fluorescent proteins, affine sequences and genetic mutations, allowing us to investigate the mechanisms of toxins' bindings to their natural receptors.

Composition and toxicity of venom produced by araneophagous white-tailed spiders (Lamponidae: Lampona sp.)

Prey-specialised spiders are adapted to capture specific prey items, including dangerous prey. The venoms of specialists are often prey-specific and less complex than those of generalists, but their venom composition has not been studied in detail. Here, we investigated the venom of the prey-specialised white-tailed spiders (Lamponidae: Lampona), which utilise specialised morphological and behavioural adaptations to capture spider prey. We analysed the venom composition using proteo-transcriptomics and taxon-specific toxicity using venom bioassays. Our analysis identified 208 putative toxin sequences, comprising 103 peptides < 10 kDa and 105 proteins > 10 kDa. Most peptides belonged to one of two families characterised by scaffolds containing eight or ten cysteine residues. Toxin-like proteins showed similarity to galectins, leucine-rich repeat proteins, trypsins and neprilysins. The venom of Lampona was shown to be more potent against the preferred spider prey than against alternative cricket prey. In contrast, the venom of a related generalist was similarly potent against both prey types. These data provide insights into the molecular adaptations of venoms produced by prey-specialised spiders.