A TNF-α blocking peptide that reduces NF-κB and MAPK activity for attenuating inflammation.

Overexpression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is implicated in many inflammatory diseases, including septic shock, hepatitis, asthma, insulin resistance and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. The TNF-α signaling pathway is a valuable target, and anti-TNF-α drugs are successfully used to treat autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Here, we study anti-inflammatory activity of an anti-TNF-α peptide (SN1-13, DEFHLELHLYQSW). In the cellular level assessment, SN1-13 inhibited TNF-α-induced cytotoxicity and blocks TNF-α-triggered signaling activities (IC50 = 15.40 µM). Moreover, the potential binding model between SN1-13 and TNF-α/TNFRs conducted through molecular docking revealed that SN1-13 could stunt TNF-α mediated signaling thought blocking TNF-α and its receptor TNFR1 and TNFR2. These results suggest that SN1-13 would be a potential lead peptide to treat TNF-α-mediated inflammatory diseases.

Comparative Venom Multiomics Reveal the Molecular Mechanisms Driving Adaptation to Diverse Predator-Prey Ecosystems in Closely Related Sea Snakes.

Predator-prey arms races are ideal models for studying the natural selection and adaptive evolution that drive the formation of biological diversity. For venomous snakes, venom is a key bridge linking snakes with their prey, but whether and how venom evolves under the selection of diet remains unclear. Here, we focused on two closely related sea snakes, Hydrophis cyanocinctus and Hydrophis curtus, which show significant differences in prey preferences. Data-independent acquisition (DIA)-based proteomic analysis revealed different degrees of homogeneity in the venom composition of the two snakes, which was consistent with the differential phylogenetic diversity of their prey. By investigating the sequences and structures of three-finger toxins (3FTx), a predominant toxin family in elapid venom, we identified significant differences between the two sea snakes in the binding activity of 3FTx to receptors from different prey populations, which could explain the trophic specialization of H. cyanocinctus. Furthermore, we performed integrated multiomic profiling of the transcriptomes, microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), and proteomes of the venom glands; constructed venom-related mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA networks; and identified a series of noncoding RNAs involved in the regulation of toxin gene expression in the two species. These findings are highly informative for elucidating the molecular basis and regulatory mechanisms that account for discrepant venom evolution in response to divergent diets in closely related snakes, providing valuable evidence for the study of coselection and coevolution in predator-prey ecosystems.

Discovery of an Anti-TNF-α 9-mer Peptide from a T7 Phage Display Library for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inhibiting TNF-α-mediated acute inflammation is an effective treatment against inflammatory bowel disease. In this study, TNF-α-based T7 phage display library screening combined with in vitro and in vivo assays was applied. A lead peptide, pep2 (ACHAWAPTR, KD = 5.14 µM), could directly bind to TNF-α and block TNF-α-triggered signaling activation. Peptide pep2 inhibits TNF-α-induced cytotoxicity and attenuates the inflammation by decreasing NF-κB and MAPK signaling activities in a variety of cells. Furthermore, pep2 attenuated colitis induced by dextran sodium sulfate in mice in both prophylactic and therapeutic settings. Moreover, pep2 reduced the phosphorylation of p38, ERK1/2, JNK1/2, p65, and IκBα in colonic tissues as well as downregulated inflammatory genes. And HIS3, TRP5, and ARG9 may be the key amino acids in pep2 to bind TNF-α by molecular docking. Collectively, targeting TNF-α with pep2 can attenuate the inflammation in vivo and vitro by inhibiting NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways.

Toxicity evaluation, toxin screening and its intervention of the jellyfish Phacellophora camtschatica based on a combined transcriptome-proteome analysis.

BACKGROUND: The application of multi-omics technologies provides a new perspective to solve three main problems including species identification, toxin screening and effective antagonist conformation in the studies of marine toxic jellyfish. METHODS: A series of transcriptome-proteome based analysis accompanied with toxicity evaluations were performed for the ornamental jellyfish Phacellophora camtschatica. RESULTS: Through combined morphological observation and Cytochrome c oxidase subunit Ⅰ (CO1) molecular alignment, the sample jellyfish was identified as P. camtschatica. A total of 25,747 unigenes and 3058 proteins were obtained from the successfully constructed transcriptome and proteome, in which 6869 (26.68%) and 6618 (25.70%) unigenes, as well as 2536 (82.93%) and 2844 (93.00%) proteins were annotated against the databases of Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), respectively. The jellyfish displayed obvious in vivo lethal effects with significant increases of multi-organ functional indexes as well as in vitro activities. Total of 62 toxins from 120 toxin-related unigenes were screened including 16 metalloproteases, 11 phospholipases and others. Moreover, 11 toxins were further screened by using the erythrocyte model, where the zinc metalloproteinase nas-15-like (1) was the most abundant. Finally, Diltiazem greatly improved the survival rate while EDTA slightly prolonged the survival time in ICR mice. CONCLUSION: P. camtschatica is a poisonous jellyfish with diversified toxic components, in which metalloproteinase probably plays an important role in toxicities, and excessive Ca2+ entry may be the main mechanism of systemic lethal toxicity.

A combined analysis of transcriptomics and proteomics of a novel Antarctic Salpa sp. and its potential toxin screenings.

BACKGROUND: We successfully captured a kind of gelatinous organism DA-6 from Antarctic water, extracted its total RNAs and proteins, and performed species identification through a combination of transcriptomics and proteomics in this study. METHODS: The gelatinous organism DA-6 was captured 200 m underwater in Antarctica. Total RNA was extracted to construct the transcriptome and the proteins were identified by LC-MS/MS. RESULTS: DA-6 was identified as an Antarctic Salpa sp. through morphological examination and MT-CO1 phylogenetic analysis. A total of 47,183 unigenes were harvested through transcriptome. We also successfully annotated 11,954 (25.34%), 10,006 (22.21%), 4469 (9.47%) and 4901 (9.71%) unigenes with NR, SwissProt, GO and KEGG databases, respectively. In the proteomic analysis, a total of 4680 peptides and 1280 proteins were harvested using the transcriptome as the reference database. A number of both 549 (31.98%) proteins reannotated against the GO and KEGG databases. Moreover, a number of 5 toxic proteins matched from the 89 toxin-related unigenes were successfully screened, including 2 metalloproteinases, 1 serine protease, 1 serine protease inhibitor and 1 aflatoxin. CONCLUSION: Our study is the first to identify an Antarctic Salpa sp. according to the combination of de novo transcriptomics and proteomics, which can further be served as a public database for the identification of potential polar Salpa-derived lead compounds. In addition to morphology and CO1, the combined analysis of transcriptome and proteome can also be used as a value method for new species identify e.g. Salpa sp.