Unveiling Novel Kunitz- and Waprin-Type Toxins in the Micrurus mipartitus Coral Snake Venom Gland: An In Silico Transcriptome Analysis

ABSTRACT: Kunitz-type peptide expression has been described in the venom of snakes of the Viperidae, Elapidae and Colubridae families. This work aimed to identify these peptides in the venom gland transcriptome of the coral snake Micrurus mipartitus. Transcriptomic analysis revealed a high diversity of venom-associated Kunitz serine protease inhibitor proteins (KSPIs). A total of eight copies of KSPIs were predicted and grouped into four distinctive types, including short KSPI, long KSPI, Kunitz– Waprin (Ku-WAP) proteins, and a multi-domain Kunitz-type protein. From these, one short KSPI showed high identity with Micrurus tener and Austrelaps superbus. The long KSPI group exhibited similarity within the Micrurus genus and showed homology with various elapid snakes and even with the colubrid Pantherophis guttatus. A third group suggested the presence of Kunitz domains in addition to a whey-acidic-protein-type four-disulfide core domain. Finally, the fourth group corresponded to a transcript copy with a putative 511 amino acid protein, formerly annotated as KSPI, which UniProt classified as SPINT1. In conclusion, this study showed the diversity of Kunitz-type proteins expressed in the venom gland transcriptome of M. mipartitus.

• Autores: Rey Suárez, Jessica Paola; Nuñez Rangel, Vitelbina; Alzate Restrepo, Juan Fernando; Saldarriaga Córdoba, Mónica; Clavero León, Claudia; Avendaño Herrera, Ruben; Solano González, Stefany
• Tipo de recurso: Article of investigation
• Fecha de publicación: 2024
• Institución: Universidad de Antioquia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UdeA
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co:10495/41910
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/10495/41910
• Palabra clave: Secuencia de aminoácidos; Amino Acid Sequence; Simulación por Computador; Computer Simulation; Serpientes de Coral; Coral Snakes; Venenos Elapídicos; Elapid Venoms; Perfilación de la Expresión Génica; Gene Expression Profiling; Transcriptoma; Transcriptome; Serpientes Venenosas; Venomous Snakes; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D000595; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D003198; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D000073181; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D004546; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D020869; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D059467; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D000097222
• Rights: openAccess
• License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/