Peptide Toxin Diversity and a Novel Antimicrobial Peptide from the Spider <i>Oxyopes forcipiformis</i>
Kexin Wang,
James Mwangi,
Kaixun Cao,
Yi Wang,
Jinai Gao,
Min Yang,
Brenda B. Michira,
Qiumin Lu,
Juan Li
Affiliations
Kexin Wang
Medical College of Tianjin University, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
James Mwangi
Engineering Laboratory of Peptides of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Sino-African Joint Research Center, and New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.17 Longxin Road, Kunming 650201, China
Kaixun Cao
Engineering Laboratory of Peptides of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Sino-African Joint Research Center, and New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.17 Longxin Road, Kunming 650201, China
Yi Wang
Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
Jinai Gao
Engineering Laboratory of Peptides of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Sino-African Joint Research Center, and New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.17 Longxin Road, Kunming 650201, China
Min Yang
Engineering Laboratory of Peptides of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Sino-African Joint Research Center, and New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.17 Longxin Road, Kunming 650201, China
Brenda B. Michira
Engineering Laboratory of Peptides of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Sino-African Joint Research Center, and New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.17 Longxin Road, Kunming 650201, China
Qiumin Lu
Engineering Laboratory of Peptides of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Sino-African Joint Research Center, and New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.17 Longxin Road, Kunming 650201, China
Juan Li
Engineering Laboratory of Peptides of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Bioactive Peptides of Yunnan Province, KIZ-CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, National Resource Center for Non-Human Primates, National Research Facility for Phenotypic & Genetic Analysis of Model Animals (Primate Facility), Key Laboratory of Genetic Evolution & Animal Models, Sino-African Joint Research Center, and New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Kunming Institute of Zoology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.17 Longxin Road, Kunming 650201, China
Spider venoms are emerging as a rich source of bioactive peptide toxins with therapeutic potential. Lynx spiders of the genus Oxyopes are small, cursorial hunters that employ complex venom to subdue arthropod prey. However, extracting crude venom from these diminutive arachnids poses significant challenges. This study presents a transcriptome analysis of venom glands from an undescribed Oxyopes forcipiformis species, revealing 339 putative protein and peptide toxin sequences categorized into seven functional groups. The venom composition was dominated by membrane-active peptides (40.71%), venom auxiliary proteins (22.71%), neurotoxins (15.63%), channel active peptides (7.08%) and uncharacterized components (13.87%). Additionally, phylogenetic analysis of 65 disulfide-bond-rich peptides yielded six distinct families based on sequence homology and cysteine framework. Finally, a novel antimicrobial peptide, GK37, was identified using in silico and homology analyses. Our data suggested that GK37 presented significant antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1.552 µM by disrupting bacterial membranes. At 4× MICs, GK37 almost showed no hemolytic activity on blood cells or toxicity against Hek293T cells. Our findings provided a basis for targeted studies of the diversity and pharmacological effects of lynx spider peptide. We elucidated a valuable high-throughput approach for obtaining proteins and peptides from small-group spiders.
