Modern trends in animal venom research - omics and nanomaterials

Abstract

Animal venom research is a specialized investigation field, in which a number of different methods are used and this array is constantly expanding. Thus, recently emerged omics and nanotechnologies have already been successfully applied to venom research. Animal venoms have been studied for quite a long time. The traditional reductionist approach has been to isolate individual toxins and then study their structure and function. Unfortunately, the characterization of the venom as a whole system and its multiple effects on an entire organism were not possible until recent times. The development of new methods in mass spectrometry and sequencing have allowed such characterizations of venom, encompassing the identification of new toxins present in venoms at extremely low concentrations to changes in metabolism of prey organisms after envenomation. In particular, this type of comprehensive research has become possible due to the development of the various omics technologies: Proteomics, peptidomics, transcriptomics, genomics and metabolomics. As in other research fields, these omics technologies ushered in a revolution for venom studies, which is now entering the era of big data. Nanotechnology is a very new branch of technology and developing at an extremely rapid pace. It has found application in many spheres and has not bypassed the venom studies. Nanomaterials are quite promising in medicine, and most studies combining venoms and nanomaterials are dedicated to medical applications. Conjugates of nanoparticles with venom components have been proposed for use as drugs or diagnostics. For example, nanoparticles conjugated with chlorotoxin - a toxin in scorpion venom, which has been shown to bind specifically to glioma cells - are considered as potential glioma-targeted drugs, and conjugates of neurotoxins with fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles or quantum dots may be used to detect endogenous targets expressed in live cells. The data on application of omics and nanotechnologies in venom research are systematized concisely in this paper.

Keywords: Animal venom, Proteomics, Peptidomics, Transcriptomics, Nanotechnology, Genomics, Quantum dots, Nanoparticles, Metabolomics

Core tip: A number of different methods are used in animal venom research, and this array is constantly expanding. The development of new methods in mass spectrometry and sequencing have allowed for the characterization of venom at different levels, ranging from identification of new toxins to profiling the changes in metabolism of an envenomed organism. The various omics technologies-proteomics, peptidomics, transcriptomics, genomics and metabolomics-have played key roles, as has nanotechnology. Nanomaterials are promising in medicine, and most studies combining venoms and nanomaterials are directed to medical applications, with conjugates of nanoparticles and venom components being proposed for use as drugs or diagnostics.