Biomedical subjects

Brianna L Sollod

Publications and source records attributed to Brianna L Sollod.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2005

Orally active acaricidal peptide toxins from spider venom.

Numerous species of ticks and mites (collectively known as acarines) are serious pests of animals, humans, and crops. There are few commercially available acaricides and major classes of these chemicals continue to be lost from the marketplace due to resistance development or deregistration by regulatory agencies. There is consequently a pressing need to isolate new and safe acaricidal compounds. In this study, we show that two families of peptide neurotoxins isolated from the venom of the Australian funnel-web spider Hadronyche versuta are lethal to the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum. These toxins, which are specific blockers of arthropod voltage-gated calcium channels, induce a pronounced phenotype characterized by an unusual gait that is rapidly followed by paralysis and death. Remarkably, one of these toxins, the calcium channel blocker omega-atracotoxin-Hv1a, is virtually equipotent whether the toxin is injected or fed to A. americanum.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed2005

Were arachnids the first to use combinatorial peptide libraries?

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.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Australian funnel-web spiders: master insecticide chemists.

Arthropods are the most diverse animal group on the planet. Their ability to inhabit a vast array of ecological niches has inevitably brought them into conflict with humans. Although only a small minority are classified as pest species, they nevertheless destroy about a quarter of the world's annual crop production and transmit an impressive array of pathogens of human and veterinary public health importance. Arthropod pests have been controlled almost exclusively with chemical insecticides since the introduction of DDT in the 1940s. However, the evolution of resistance to many insecticides, coupled with increased awareness of the potential environmental and human and animal health impacts of these chemicals, has stimulated the search for new insecticidal compounds, novel molecular targets, and alternative control methods. Spider venoms are complex chemical cocktails that have evolved to kill or paralyze arthropod prey, and they represent a largely untapped reservoir of insecticidal compounds. This review focuses on several families of invertebrate-specific peptide neurotoxins that were isolated from the venom of Australian funnel-web spiders. These peptides are promising insecticide leads because of their selectivity for invertebrates and activity on previously unvalidated targets. These toxins should facilitate the development of novel target-based screens for new insecticide leads, while their mapped pharmacophores will provide templates for rational design of mimetics that act at these target sites. Furthermore, genes encoding these toxins can be used to improve the efficacy of insect-specific viruses.

Amino Acid Sequence↗