Songping Liang

Molecular diversification based on analysis of expressed sequence tags from the venom glands of the Chinese bird spider Ornithoctonus huwena

The bird spider Ornithoctonus huwena is one of the most venomous spiders in China. Its venom has been investigated but usually only the most abundant components have been analyzed. To characterize the primary structure of O. huwena toxins, a list of transcripts within the venom gland were made using the expressed sequence tag (EST) strategy. We generated 468 ESTs from a directional cDNA library of O. huwena venom glands. All ESTs were grouped into 24 clusters and 65 singletons, of which 68.00% of total ESTs belong to toxin-like sequences, 13.00% are similar to body peptide transcripts and 19.00% have no significant similarity to any known sequences. Precursors of all toxin-like sequences can be classified into eight different superfamilies (HWTX-I superfamily, HWTX-II superfamily, HWTX-X superfamily, HWTX-XIV superfamily, HWTX-XV superfamily, HWTX-XVI superfamily, HWTX-XVII superfamily, HWTX-XVIII superfamily) except HWTX-XI and HWTX-XIII, according to the identity of their precursor sequences. The results have predictive value for the discovery of various groups of pharmacologically distinct toxins in complex venoms, and for understanding the relationship of spider toxin evolution based on the diversification of cDNA sequences, primary structure of precursor peptides, three-dimensional structure motifs and biological functions.

Venomics of the spider Ornithoctonus huwena based on transcriptomic versus proteomic analysis.

The spider Ornithoctonus huwena is a venomous spider found in southern China. Its venom is a complex mixture of numerous biologically active components. In this study, 41 novel unique transcripts encoding cellular proteins or other possible venom components were generated from the previously constructed cDNA library. These proteins were also annotated by KOG (eukaryotic orthologous group) and GO (gene ontology) terms. A novel cellular transcript contig encoding an EF-hand protein (named HWEFHP1) was found, which might be involved in the secretion of toxins in the venom glands. In order to have an overview of the molecular diversity of the O. huwena venom, the datasets of all the transcripts, peptides and proteins known so far were analyzed. A comparison of the data obtained through a proteomic versus a transcriptomic approach, revealed that only 15 putative cystine knot toxins (CKTs) were identified by both approaches, 29 transcripts coding for CKTs were found in the transcriptome but not as translated peptides in the venom proteome. However, no cellular protein with identical molecular weight was identified by both approaches. Our data may contribute to a deeper understanding of the biology and ecology of O. huwena and the relationship between structure and function of individual toxins.

Transcriptome analysis of venom glands from a single fishing spider Dolomedes mizhoanus.

The spider venom is a large pharmacological repertoire composed of different types of bioactive peptide toxins. Despite the importance of spider toxins in capturing terrestrial prey and defending themselves against predators, we know little about the venom components from the spider acting on the fish. Here we constructed a cDNA library of a pair of venomous glands from a single fish-hunting spider Dolomedes mizhoanus. A total of 356 high-quality expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were obtained from the venom gland cDNA library and analyzed. These transcripts were further classified into 45 clusters (19 contigs and 26 singletons), most of which encoded cystine knot toxins (CKTs) and non-CKTs. The ESTs coding for 53 novel CKT precursors were abundant transcripts in the venom glands of the spider D. mizhoanus, accounting for 76% of the total ESTs, the precursors of which were grouped into six families based on the sequence identity and the phylogenetic analysis. In addition, the non-CKTs deduced from 21% of the total ESTs were annotated by Gene Ontology terms and eukaryotic orthologous groups. Fifty-five CKT precursors deduced from 273 ESTs are the largest dataset for a single spider specimen to date. The results may contribute to discovering novel potential drug leads from spider venoms and a better understanding of the evolutionary relationship of the spider toxin.

Synthesis and biological characterization of synthetic analogs of Huwentoxin-IV (Mu-theraphotoxin-Hh2a), a neuronal tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium channel inhibitor

Huwentoxin-IV (HWTX-IV, also named Mu-theraphotoxin-Hh2a) is a typical inhibitor cystine knot peptide isolated from the venom of Chinese tarantula Ornithoctonus huwena and is found to inhibit tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) sodium channels from mammalian sensory neurons. This peptide binds to neurotoxin receptor site 4 located at the extracellular S3-S4 linker of domain II in neuronal sodium channels. However, the molecular surface of HWTX-IV interaction with sodium channels remains unknown. In this study, we synthesized HWTX-IV and three mutants (T28D, R29A and Q34D) and characterized their functions on TTX-S sodium channels from adult rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Analysis of liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry and circular dichroism spectrum indicated that all four synthetic peptides are properly folded. Synthetic HWTX-IV exhibited the same activity as native HWTX-IV, while three mutations reduced toxin binding affinities by 10-200 fold, indicating that the basic or vicinal polar residues Thr²⁸, Arg²⁹, and Gln³⁴ in C-terminus might play critical roles in the interaction of HWTX-IV with TTX-S sodium channels.

JZTX-IV, a unique acidic sodium channel toxin isolated from the spider Chilobrachys jingzhao

Neurotoxins are important tools to explore the structure and function relationship of different ion channels. From the venom of Chinese spider Chilobrachys jingzhao, a novel toxin, Jingzhaotoxin-IV (JZTX-IV), is isolated and characterized. It consists of 34 amino acid residues including six acidic residues clustered with negative charge (pI=4.29). The full-length cDNA of JZTX-IV encodes an 86-amino acid precursor containing a signal peptide of 21 residues, a mature peptide of 34 residues and an intervening sequence of 29 residues with terminal Lys-Gly as the signal of amidation. Under whole-cell patch clamp conditions, JZTX-IV inhibits current and slows the inactivation of sodium channels by shifting the voltage dependence of activation to more depolarized potentials on DRG neurons, therefore, differs from the classic site 4 toxins that shift voltage dependence of activation in the opposite direction. In addition, JZTX-IV shows a slowing inactivation of sodium channel with a hyperpolarizing shift of the steady-state inactivation on acutely isolated rat cardiac cell and DRG neurons, differs from the classic site 3 toxins that do not affect the steady-state of inactivation. At high concentration, JZTX-IV has no significant effect on tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) sodium channels on rat DRG neurons and tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) sodium channels on hippocampal neurons. Our data establish that, contrary to known toxins, JZTX-IV neither binds to the previously characterized classic site 4, nor site 3 by modifying channel gating, thus making it a novel probe of channel gating in sodium channels with potential to shed new light on this process.

The venom of the fishing spider Dolomedes sulfurous contains various neurotoxins acting on voltage-activated ion channels in rat dorsal root ganglion neurons.

Dolomedes sulfurous is a venomous spider distributed in the south of China and characterized with feeding on fish. The venom exhibits great diversity and contains hundreds of peptides as revealed by off-line RP-HPLC/MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. The venom peptides followed a triple-modal distribution, with 40.7% of peptides falling in the mass range of 1000-3000 Da, 25.6% peptides in the 7000-9000 Da range and 23.5% peptides in the 3000-5000 Da range. This distribution modal is rather different from these of peptides from other spider venoms analyzed. The venom could inhibit voltage-activated Na(+), K(+) and Ca(2+) channels in rat DRG neurons as revealed by voltage-clamp analysis. Significantly, the venom exhibited inhibitory effects on TTX-R Na(+) and T-type Ca(2+) currents, suggesting that there exist both channel antagonists which might be valuable tools for investigation of both channels and drug development. Additionally, intrathoracically injection of venom could cause serve neurotoxic effects on zebrafish and death at higher concentrations. The LD50 value was calculated to be 28.8 μg/g body weight. Our results indicated that the venom of D. sulfurous contain diverse neurotoxins which serve to capture prey. Intensive studies will be necessary to investigate the structures and functions of specific peptides of the venom in the future.

Genomic organization and cloning of novel genes encoding toxin-like peptides of three superfamilies from the spider Orinithoctonus huwena

The bird spider Ornithoctonus huwena is one of the most venomous spiders in China. Its venom is a mixture of various compounds with diverse bioactivities. Ninety proteins and 47 peptides have been identified, and 67 cDNA sequences encoding different toxin precursors have been cloned. However, the genomic DNA of them is seldom reported. To characterize the genomic DNA structure of huwentoxins, the genomic DNA encoding toxins of three superfamilies were cloned by using sequence specific or partially degenerate primers based on their cDNA sequences. An unexpected finding was that the intron was lacking in the genomic sequences of three superfamilies. The genomic DNA information has predictive value for better understanding the relationship of spider toxin evolution. In addition, we have cloned and analyzed 19 novel genes encoding toxin-like precursors by using the genomic DNA of the spider O. huwena.

Expression, purification and characterization of a group of lectin-like peptides from the spider Ornithoctonus huwena.

By sequencing random clones from the venom gland cDNA library of the spider Ornithoctonus huwena, a transcript, named SHL-Ib1, encoding a lectin-like peptide was cloned. The amino acid sequence of the putative mature peptide of SHL-Ib1 is identical, except for seven different residues, with that of SHL-I, a lectin found in the venom of O. huwena. The mature peptides of SHL-Ib1b and SHL-Ib1c are the mutants of SHL-Ib1 with two or three amino acid residues truncated at the C-terminal. The recombinant SHL-Ib1b and SHL-Ib1c were expressed successfully by the yeast expression system and purified by using a combination of ion-exchange and reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The molecular masses of the two expressed peptides were identified by mass spectrometry, indicating that the C-terminals of the two peptides were not amidated. The two peptides can agglutinate human erythrocytes at minimal concentrations of 0.75 and 1.475mg/ml, respectively. Structure modeling of SHL-Ib1 has given a clue to the low agglutination bioactivities of these recombinant toxins. These lectin-like peptides, due to the small molecular sizes, may have the advantage to investigate the binding mechanism of the lectin and have the potential to be the carrier for drug delivery.

Functional characterization of two novel scorpion sodium channel toxins from Lychas mucronatus

The diverse α-scorpion toxins are invaluable pharmacological tools and potential drugs targeting sodium channels, but the pharmacological profiles of most toxins remains unknown so far. Here, we reported pharmacological activities of two novel α-scorpion toxins LmαTX3 and LmαTX5 from the Lychas mucronatus. Using the expression vector pET-28a, the recombinant LmαTX3 and LmαTX5 were separated by RP-HPLC and identified by MALDI-TOF-MS. Subsequently, sodium channels rNav1.2, mNav1.4, hNav1.5 and hNav1.7 were used for evaluating the pharmacological activities of LmαTX3 and LmαTX5 toxins. The electrophysiological experiments showed that both 10 μM recombinant LmαTX3 and LmαTX5 seriously inhibited the fast inactivation of mNav1.4 and hNav1.5 channels, moderately affected hNav1.7 channel, and hardly modulated rNav1.2 channel. The dose-response experiments further indicated the EC50 values of LmαTX3 were 4.98 ± 0.79 μM for mNav1.4, 1.23 ± 0.31 μM for hNav1.5 and 31.46 ± 2.32 μM for hNav1.7 channels, respectively. Similar pharmacological profiles of recombinant LmαTX5 were also observed, and its EC50 values were 4.53 ± 1.38 μM, 1.03 ± 0.43 μM and 67.62 ± 2.31 μM for mNav1.4, hNav1.5 and hNav1.7, respectively. In addition, the recombinant LmαTX3 from the vector pET-14b had much less effect on the fast inactivation of mNav1.4, hNav1.5 and hNav1.7 channels, which indicated that the expression vector pET-14b likely played a critical role in toxin function. Together, these findings first highlighted that scorpion toxins from L. mucronatus were a new molecular resource of discovering pharmacological probes and prospective drugs targeting sodium channels in the future.

JZTX-XIII, a Kv channel gating modifier toxin from Chinese tarantula Chilobrachys jingzhao

Jingzhaotoxin-XIII (JZTX-XIII), a 35 residue polypeptide, with the ability to inhibit voltage-dependent potassium channels in the shab (Kv2) and shal (Kv4) subfamilies, was purified from the venom of the Chinese tarantula Chilobrachys jingzhao. Electrophysiological recordings carried out in Xenopus laevis oocytes showed that JZTX-XIII acted as gating modifier of voltage-dependent K+ channels which inhibited the Kv2.1 channel and Kv4.1 channel, with the IC50 value of 0.47 μM and 1.17 μM, respectively. JZTX-XIII shares high sequence similarity with gating modifier toxins inhibiting a wide variety of ion channels including Nav1.5 subtype, but it showed no Nav1.5 channel activity. Structure-function analysis indicates that the acidic residues of Glu10 and Glu17 in JZTX-XIII might be responsible for the loss of the Nav1.5 channel inhibitory potency for JZTX-XIII.