In-Depth Venome of the Brazilian Rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus: An Integrative Approach Combining Its Venom Gland Transcriptome and Venom Proteome

• Published in: Journal of proteome research Vol. 17; no. 11; pp. 3941 - 3958
• Main Authors: Wiezel, Gisele A, Shibao, Priscila Y. T, Cologna, Camila T, Morandi Filho, Romualdo, Ueira-Vieira, Carlos, De Pauw, Edwin, Quinton, Loïc, Arantes, Eliane C
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 02.11.2018
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Carboxypeptidases - genetics; Carboxypeptidases - isolation & purification; Carboxypeptidases - metabolism; Chemistry; Chimie; Chromatography, Liquid - methods; Crotalid Venoms - chemistry; Crotalus; Crotalus - physiology; DNA library; Fibroblast Growth Factors - genetics; Fibroblast Growth Factors - isolation & purification; Fibroblast Growth Factors - metabolism; Gene Expression; Gene Library; Gene Ontology; Hyaluronoglucosaminidase - genetics; Hyaluronoglucosaminidase - isolation & purification; Hyaluronoglucosaminidase - metabolism; Molecular Sequence Annotation; Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences; Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Proteome - genetics; Proteome - isolation & purification; Proteome - metabolism; RNA-seq; Sequence Alignment; Sequence Analysis, RNA; Tandem Mass Spectrometry - methods; Transcriptome; venom gland transcriptome; hyaluronidase; fibroblast growth factor; RNA-seq; orbitrap; venom proteome; snake venomics; carboxypeptidase
• ISSN: 1535-3893; 1535-3907; 1535-3907
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.8b00610

Snake venoms are complex mixtures mainly composed of proteins and small peptides. Crotoxin is one of the most studied components from Crotalus venoms, but many other components are less known due to their low abundance. The venome of Crotalus durissus terrificus, the most lethal Brazilian snake, was investigated by combining its venom gland transcriptome and proteome to create a holistic database of venom compounds unraveling novel toxins. We constructed a cDNA library from C. d. terrificus venom gland using the Illumina platform and investigated its venom proteome through high resolution liquid chromotography–tandem mass spectrometry. After integrating data from both data sets, more than 30 venom components classes were identified by the transcriptomic analysis and 15 of them were detected in the venom proteome. However, few of them (PLA2, SVMP, SVSP, and VEGF) were relatively abundant. Furthermore, only seven expressed transcripts contributed to ∼82% and ∼73% of the abundance in the transcriptome and proteome, respectively. Additionally, novel venom proteins are reported, and we highlight the importance of using different databases to perform the data integration and discuss the structure of the venom components-related transcripts identified. Concluding, this research paves the way for novel investigations and discovery of future pharmacological agents or targets in the antivenom therapy.