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Fiorotti HB, Figueiredo SG, Campos FV, Pimenta DC. Cone snail species off the Brazilian coast and their venoms: a review and update. J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis 2023; 29:e20220052. [PMID: 36756364 PMCID: PMC9897318 DOI: 10.1590/1678-9199-jvatitd-2022-0052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The genus Conus includes over 900 species of marine invertebrates known as cone snails, whose venoms are among the most powerful described so far. This potency is mainly due to the concerted action of hundreds of small bioactive peptides named conopeptides, which target different ion channels and membrane receptors and thus interfere with crucial physiological processes. By swiftly harpooning and injecting their prey and predators with such deadly cocktails, the slow-moving cone snails guarantee their survival in the harsh, competitive marine environment. Each cone snail species produces a unique venom, as the mature sequences of conopeptides from the venoms of different species share very little identity. This biochemical diversity, added to the numerous species and conopeptides contained in their venoms, results in an immense biotechnological and therapeutic potential, still largely unexplored. That is especially true regarding the bioprospection of the venoms of cone snail species found off the Brazilian coast - a region widely known for its biodiversity. Of the 31 species described in this region so far, only four - Conus cancellatus, Conus regius, Conus villepinii, and Conus ermineus - have had their venoms partially characterized, and, although many bioactive molecules have been identified, only a few have been actually isolated and studied. In addition to providing an overview on all the cone snail species found off the Brazilian coast to date, this review compiles the information on the structural and pharmacological features of conopeptides and other molecules identified in the venoms of the four aforementioned species, paving the way for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena B. Fiorotti
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Butantan Institute, São
Paulo, SP, Brazil.,Graduate Program in Biochemistry, Laboratory of Protein Chemistry
(LQP), Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil
| | - Suely G. Figueiredo
- Graduate Program in Biochemistry, Laboratory of Protein Chemistry
(LQP), Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil
| | - Fabiana V. Campos
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Butantan Institute, São
Paulo, SP, Brazil.,Graduate Program in Biochemistry, Laboratory of Protein Chemistry
(LQP), Federal University of Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES, Brazil
| | - Daniel C. Pimenta
- Laboratory of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Butantan Institute, São
Paulo, SP, Brazil.,Correspondence:
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Mayer AMS, Guerrero AJ, Rodríguez AD, Taglialatela-Scafati O, Nakamura F, Fusetani N. Marine Pharmacology in 2016-2017: Marine Compounds with Antibacterial, Antidiabetic, Antifungal, Anti-Inflammatory, Antiprotozoal, Antituberculosis and Antiviral Activities; Affecting the Immune and Nervous Systems, and Other Miscellaneous Mechanisms of Action. Mar Drugs 2021; 19:49. [PMID: 33494402 PMCID: PMC7910995 DOI: 10.3390/md19020049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The review of the 2016-2017 marine pharmacology literature was prepared in a manner similar as the 10 prior reviews of this series. Preclinical marine pharmacology research during 2016-2017 assessed 313 marine compounds with novel pharmacology reported by a growing number of investigators from 54 countries. The peer-reviewed literature reported antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, antituberculosis, and antiviral activities for 123 marine natural products, 111 marine compounds with antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory activities as well as affecting the immune and nervous system, while in contrast 79 marine compounds displayed miscellaneous mechanisms of action which upon further investigation may contribute to several pharmacological classes. Therefore, in 2016-2017, the preclinical marine natural product pharmacology pipeline generated both novel pharmacology as well as potentially new lead compounds for the growing clinical marine pharmaceutical pipeline, and thus sustained with its contributions the global research for novel and effective therapeutic strategies for multiple disease categories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro M. S. Mayer
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, 555 31st Street, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA;
| | - Aimee J. Guerrero
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, 555 31st Street, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA;
| | - Abimael D. Rodríguez
- Molecular Sciences Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, 1390 Ponce de León Avenue, San Juan, PR 00926, USA;
| | | | - Fumiaki Nakamura
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan;
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Hernández-Sámano AC, Falcón A, Zamudio F, Batista CVF, Michel-Morfín JE, Landa-Jaime V, López-Vera E, Jeziorski MC, Aguilar MB. αD-Conotoxins in Species of the Eastern Pacific: The Case of Conus princeps from Mexico. Toxins (Basel) 2019; 11:toxins11070405. [PMID: 31336928 PMCID: PMC6669827 DOI: 10.3390/toxins11070405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2019] [Revised: 07/09/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Conus snails produce venoms containing numerous peptides such as the α-conotoxins (α-CTXs), which are well-known nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonists. Thirty-eight chromatographic fractions from Conus princeps venom extract were isolated by RP-HPLC. The biological activities of 37 fractions (0.07 µg/µL) were assayed by two-electrode voltage clamp on human α7 nAChRs expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Fractions F7 and F16 notably inhibited the response elicited by acetylcholine by 52.7 ± 15.2% and 59.6 ± 2.5%, respectively. Fraction F7 was purified, and an active peptide (F7-3) was isolated. Using a combination of Edman degradation, mass spectrometry, and RNASeq, we determined the sequence of peptide F7-3: AVKKTCIRSTOGSNWGRCCLTKMCHTLCCARSDCTCVYRSGKGHGCSCTS, with one hydroxyproline (O) and a free C-terminus. The average mass of this peptide, 10,735.54 Da, indicates that it is a homodimer of identical subunits, with 10 disulfide bonds in total. This peptide is clearly similar to αD-CTXs from species of the Indo-Pacific. Therefore, we called it αD-PiXXA. This toxin slowly and reversibly inhibited the ACh-induced response of the hα7 nAChR subtype, with an IC50 of 6.2 μM, and it does not affect the hα3β2 subtype at 6.5 μM.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arisaí C Hernández-Sámano
- Laboratorio de Neurofarmacología Marina, Departamento de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Andrés Falcón
- Laboratorio de Neurofarmacología Marina, Departamento de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Fernando Zamudio
- Departamento de Medicina Molecular y Bioprocesos, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico
| | - César V F Batista
- Laboratorio Universitario de Proteómica, Instituto de Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62210, Mexico
| | - Jesús Emilio Michel-Morfín
- Departamento de Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Zonas Costeras, CUCSUR-Universidad de Guadalajara, San Patricio-Melaque, Jalisco 48980, Mexico
| | - Víctor Landa-Jaime
- Departamento de Estudios para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Zonas Costeras, CUCSUR-Universidad de Guadalajara, San Patricio-Melaque, Jalisco 48980, Mexico
| | - Estuardo López-Vera
- Laboratorio de Toxinología Marina, Unidad Académica de Ecología y Biodiversidad Acuática, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
| | - Michael C Jeziorski
- Unidad de Proteogenómica, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
| | - Manuel B Aguilar
- Laboratorio de Neurofarmacología Marina, Departamento de Neurobiología Celular y Molecular, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, Mexico.
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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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Antimycobacterial Activity: A New Pharmacological Target for Conotoxins Found in the First Reported Conotoxin from Conasprella ximenes. Toxins (Basel) 2018; 10:toxins10020051. [PMID: 29360782 PMCID: PMC5848152 DOI: 10.3390/toxins10020051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Revised: 01/11/2018] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the etiological agent of tuberculosis, an airborne infectious disease that is a leading cause of human morbidity and mortality worldwide. We report here the first conotoxin that is able to inhibit the growth of M. tuberculosis at a concentration similar to that of two other drugs that are currently used in clinics. Furthermore, it is also the first conopeptide that has been isolated from the venom of Conasprella ximenes. The venom gland transcriptome of C. ximenes was sequenced to construct a database with 24,284 non-redundant transcripts. The conopeptide was purified from the venom using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) and was analyzed using electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). No automatic identification above the identity threshold with 1% of the false discovery rate was obtained; however, a 10-amino-acid sequence tag, manually extracted from the MS/MS spectra, allowed for the identification of a conotoxin in the transcriptome database. Electron transfer higher energy collision dissociation (EThcD) fragmentation of the native conotoxin confirmed the N-terminal sequence (1–14), while LC-MS/MS analysis of the tryptic digest of the reduced and S-alkylated conotoxin confirmed the C-terminal region (15–36). The expected and experimental molecular masses corresponded, within sub-ppm mass error. The 37-mer peptide (MW 4109.69 Da), containing eight cysteine residues, was named I1_xm11a, according to the current nomenclature for this type of molecule.
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Abstract
Covering: 2016. Previous review: Nat. Prod. Rep., 2017, 34, 235-294This review covers the literature published in 2016 for marine natural products (MNPs), with 757 citations (643 for the period January to December 2016) referring to compounds isolated from marine microorganisms and phytoplankton, green, brown and red algae, sponges, cnidarians, bryozoans, molluscs, tunicates, echinoderms, mangroves and other intertidal plants and microorganisms. The emphasis is on new compounds (1277 in 432 papers for 2016), together with the relevant biological activities, source organisms and country of origin. Reviews, biosynthetic studies, first syntheses, and syntheses that led to the revision of structures or stereochemistries, have been included.
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Affiliation(s)
- John W Blunt
- School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
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