title: cDNA sequence analysis of seven peptide toxins from the spider Selenocosmia huwena.
abstract: Seven cDNAs encoding six toxins HWTX-I, HWTX-II, HWTX-IIIa, HWTX-IV, HWTX-V, HWTX-VII and one lectin SHL-I, from the spider Selenocosmia huwena, were cloned and sequenced. On the basis of their amino acid sequences, we designed and synthesized 3' RACE and 5' RACE primer. By overlapping the two partial cDNA sequences obtained by 3' and 5' RACE, their full-length cDNA sequences were obtained. All of the cDNAs of these seven peptides encode a precursor including a potential signal peptide of 21-24 residues, a mature toxin of about 30 residues and an intervening pro region. The prepro regions of HWTX-I, HWTX-IIIa, HWTX-IV, HWTX-V and SHL-I were demonstrated, by the comparison of the cDNA sequences, to have high similarity, which is concert with the similar inhibitor cystine knot motif of HWTX-I, HWTX-IV and SHL-I although their functions are different. It was also demonstrated that, HWTX-II and HWTX-VII share the highly similar prepro region which is different from that of HWTX-I, HWTX-IV and SHL-I. The three dimensional structure of HWTX-II has been determined to exhibit a different motif. This indicates that the seven peptides from S. huwena could be classified into two different superfamilies according to the prepro region of cDNA sequences.
authors.affiliation: National laboratory of Protein Engineering and Plant Genetic Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diao
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jianzhou
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Songping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000737:chemistry*; D037102:Lectins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013111:Spider Venoms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D013112:Spiders; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D037102:Lectins; D009498:Neurotoxins; D011498:Protein Precursors; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D013111:Spider Venoms