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Deadly Proteomes: A Practical Guide to Proteotranscriptomics of Animal Venoms
Author(s) -
Walker Andrew A.,
Robinson Samuel D.,
Hamilton Brett F.,
Undheim Eivind A. B.,
King Glenn F.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
proteomics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.26
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1615-9861
pISSN - 1615-9853
DOI - 10.1002/pmic.201900324
Subject(s) - venom , proteome , proteomics , computational biology , biology , identification (biology) , workflow , bioinformatics , computer science , ecology , biochemistry , database , gene
Abstract Animal venoms are renowned for their toxicity, biochemical complexity, and as a source of compounds with potential applications in medicine, agriculture, and industry. Polypeptides underlie much of the pharmacology of animal venoms, and elucidating these arsenals of polypeptide toxins—known as the venom proteome or venome—is an important step in venom research. Proteomics is used for the identification of venom toxins, determination of their primary structure including post‐translational modifications, as well as investigations into the physiology underlying their production and delivery. Advances in proteomics and adjacent technologies has led to a recent upsurge in publications reporting venom proteomes. Improved mass spectrometers, better proteomic workflows, and the integration of next‐generation sequencing of venom‐gland transcriptomes and venomous animal genomes allow quicker and more accurate profiling of venom proteomes with greatly reduced starting material. Technologies such as imaging mass spectrometry are revealing additional insights into the mechanism, location, and kinetics of venom toxin production. However, these numerous new developments may be overwhelming for researchers designing venom proteome studies. Here, the field of venom proteomics is reviewed and some practical solutions for simplifying mass spectrometry workflows to study animal venoms are offered.