TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2020//
TI  - Neurotoxic peptides from the venom of the giant Australian stinging tree
JO  - Science advances
A1  - Gilding, Edward K.
A1  - Jami, Sina
A1  - Deuis, Jennifer R.
A1  - Israel, Mathilde R.
A1  - Harvey, Peta J.
A1  - Poth, Aaron G.
A1  - Rehm, Fabian B. H.
A1  - Stow, Jennifer L.
A1  - Robinson, Samuel D.
A1  - Yap, Kuok
A1  - Brown, Darren L.
A1  - Hamilton, Brett R.
A1  - Andersson, David
A1  - Craik, David J.
A1  - Vetter, Irina
A1  - Durek, Thomas
SP  - e8828
EP  - e8828
VL  - 6
IS  - 38
N2  - Stinging trees from Australasia produce remarkably persistent and painful stings upon contact of their stiff epidermal hairs, called trichomes, with mammalian skin. Dendrocnide-induced acute pain typically lasts for several hours, and intermittent painful flares can persist for days and weeks. Pharmacological activity has been attributed to small-molecule neurotransmitters and inflammatory mediators, but these compounds alone cannot explain the observed sensory effects. We show here that the venoms of Australian Dendrocnide species contain heretofore unknown pain-inducing peptides that potently activate mouse sensory neurons and delay inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels. These neurotoxins localize specifically to the stinging hairs and are miniproteins of 4 kDa, whose 3D structure is stabilized in an inhibitory cystine knot motif, a characteristic shared with neurotoxins found in spider and cone snail venoms. Our results provide an intriguing example of inter-kingdom convergent evolution of animal and plant venoms with shared modes of delivery, molecular structure, and pharmacology.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2375-2548
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb8828
ID  - ref1
ER  -