title: Were arachnids the first to use combinatorial peptide libraries?
abstract: Spiders, scorpions, and cone snails are remarkable for the extent and diversity of gene-encoded peptide neurotoxins that are expressed in their venom glands. These toxins are produced in the form of structurally constrained combinatorial peptide libraries in which there is hypermutation of essentially all residues in the mature-toxin sequence with the exception of a handful of strictly conserved cysteines that direct the three-dimensional fold of the toxin. This gene-based combinatorial peptide library strategy appears to have been first implemented by arachnids almost 400 million years ago, long before cone snails evolved a similar mechanism for generating peptide diversity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Microbial, and Structural Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06032-3305, USA.
authors.forename: Brianna L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Sollod
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zhaxybayeva
authors.forename: J Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gogarten
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Drinkwater
authors.forename: Glenn F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001097:Arachnida / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020916:Conotoxins / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D019151:Peptide Library; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000378:metabolism; D013111:Spider Venoms / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D020916:Conotoxins; D019151:Peptide Library; D010455:Peptides; D012604:Scorpion Venoms; D013111:Spider Venoms