Espín-Angulo Joseph, Vela Doris
Facultad de Hábitat, Infraestructura y Creatividad, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito 170525, Ecuador.
Laboratorio de Genética Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Naturales y Ambientales, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito 170525, Ecuador.
Toxins (Basel). 2025 May 22;17(6):262. doi: 10.3390/toxins17060262.
Snake venoms contain numerous toxic proteins, but low-abundance proteins often remain uncharacterized due to identification challenges. This study employs a bioinformatics approach to identify and structurally model low-abundance proteins from the venom gland transcriptomes of and . Using tools such as tblastn, Jalview, and CHIMERA, we analyzed sequences and structural features of proteins including arylsulfatase, CRISP (Cysteine-Rich Secretory Protein), von Willebrand factor type D (vWFD), and dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), and identified potential new isoforms of SVMP-PIIIb (Ba_1) and botrocetin in . Protein models were generated with AlphaFold2, compared with crystallized structures from the Protein Data Bank (PDB), and validated using Procheck, ERRAT, and Verify3D. Conserved motifs and domains were annotated through Pfam and InterPro, revealing structural elements that suggest possible roles in venom physiology and toxicity. These findings emphasize the potential of computational biology to characterize structurally relevant but experimentally inaccessible venom proteins, and to lay the groundwork for future functional validation.
蛇毒含有多种有毒蛋白质，但由于鉴定困难，低丰度蛋白质往往仍未得到表征。本研究采用生物信息学方法，从[具体蛇种1]和[具体蛇种2]的毒腺转录组中鉴定低丰度蛋白质并进行结构建模。利用tblastn、Jalview和CHIMERA等工具，我们分析了芳基硫酸酯酶、CRISP（富含半胱氨酸的分泌蛋白）、血管性血友病因子D型（vWFD）和二氢乳清酸脱氢酶（DHODH）等蛋白质的序列和结构特征，并在[具体蛇种1]中鉴定出SVMP - PIIIb（Ba_1）和botrocetin的潜在新亚型。使用AlphaFold2生成蛋白质模型，与蛋白质数据库（PDB）中的晶体结构进行比较，并使用Procheck、ERRAT和Verify3D进行验证。通过Pfam和InterPro注释保守基序和结构域，揭示了可能在毒液生理学和毒性中发挥作用的结构元件。这些发现强调了计算生物学在表征结构相关但实验上难以获取的毒液蛋白质方面的潜力，并为未来的功能验证奠定了基础。
