Roly Zahida Yesmin, Islam Md Mahmudul, Reza Md Abu
Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life and Earth Science, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh.
Bioinformation. 2014 May 20;10(5):281-7. doi: 10.6026/97320630010281. eCollection 2014.
Snake venom is an abundant resource of diverse pharmacologically bioactive proteins and peptides and a good natural source of drug lead compounds and used as important research tools in the field of toxicology, pharmacology and neuroscience. Three finger toxins (3FTx) is an important super-family of snake venom proteins which has a conserved three finger like appearance in three dimensional structures. Members of 3FTx family show a wide array of pharmacological effects by targeting different receptors and ion channels with high specificity and many of them are being investigated as potential drug target. Therefore, with a vision to verdict a new edge and attempt we determined the amino acid compositional (%) profile, physiochemical properties, secondary structural and functional analysis and phylogenetic relationship of three finger toxins present in four different elapid snake species namely, Naja naja, Astrotia stokesii, Hydrophis cyanocintus and Pelamis platura using different bioinformatics tools. From the outcome of the current studies, it will be possible to know about a range of biological functions which are responsible mainly for the glowing amino acid composition profile of these proteins. Amino acid composition (%) profile although represents differential amount of different amino acid residues which encompasses a family precise model but all the protein sequence have a conserved amount of cysteine. The analysis of physicochemical properties can be used as a basic approach to contribute in developing rational drug through protein engineering and understanding different physiological function which will be beneficial for the welfare of human being.
蛇毒是多种具有药理生物活性的蛋白质和肽的丰富来源，是药物先导化合物的良好天然来源，并被用作毒理学、药理学和神经科学领域的重要研究工具。三指毒素（3FTx）是蛇毒蛋白的一个重要超家族，其三维结构具有保守的三指状外观。3FTx家族成员通过高度特异性地靶向不同受体和离子通道，表现出广泛的药理作用，其中许多成员正在作为潜在的药物靶点进行研究。因此，为了开拓新的研究方向并进行尝试，我们使用不同的生物信息学工具，确定了四种不同眼镜蛇科蛇类（即眼镜蛇、斯氏眶鼻蛇、青环海蛇和扁尾海蛇）中存在的三指毒素的氨基酸组成（%）概况、理化性质、二级结构和功能分析以及系统发育关系。从当前研究的结果来看，有可能了解一系列主要负责这些蛋白质显著氨基酸组成概况的生物学功能。氨基酸组成（%）概况虽然代表了不同氨基酸残基包含家族精确模型的差异量，但所有蛋白质序列都有保守量的半胱氨酸。理化性质分析可作为一种基本方法，通过蛋白质工程为开发合理药物做出贡献，并理解不同的生理功能，这将有利于人类福祉。
