Venom peptidomics:a novel approach towards drug discovery

摘要

Natural bioactive compounds usually derive from characterized molecules isolated on the basis of their observed biological activity.In a complementary approach,we focus on a backward strategy going from the structure to the function.This strategy is mainly based on a combination of bio-computing,proteomics and genomics.A specific database was created and developed as a unique biochemical and biological database on venomous animals.This database consists in the collection of information such as species identification,venom composition and the effect of these venoms.Selection of relevant animal or venom can thus be carried out and optimized with the aid of these features.Following this in silico selection,a technical platform to isolate and characterize the bioactive compounds has been set up,which includes genomics such as sequencing of cDNAs from venom glands and proteomics through a systematic identification and characterization of the venom components.To this end,micro-or nano-technologies are routinely used,such as on-line liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectroscopy(ESI-LC-MS)or tandem mass spectroscopy(ES1-MS/MS).Other analytical methods like matrix assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF-MS)is also applied for the direct analysis of crude venoms.