Page 46 - M. Immunology

[M. Immunology-29]

A Novel Peptide from Spider Venom, Lycotoxin-Pa4a, Exhibits

Antibacterial and Anti-inflammatory Activity

Min Kyoung Shin¹, In-Wook Hwang¹, Yunkyung Kim¹, Seung-Tae Kim², Jung-Suk Sung¹˙*

¹Department of Life Science, Dongguk University-Seoul, Goyang 10326, Republic of Korea, ²Life and Environment

Research Institute, Konkuk University, Seoul 05029, Republic of Korea

Since the threat of the drug-resistant bacteria is increasing, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are drawing attention as
a new source of antibiotics. Animal venom comprises diverse components with bioactivity, including antibacterial

and neuromodulatory effects. In search of the novel peptide with functionality, the transcriptome library was

constructed through RNA sequencing of the venom gland of the spider Pardosa astrigera. A sequence that showed
homology with known-peptides derived from spiders was selected via in silico analysis, and renamed as Lycotoxin-
Pa4a. The peptide inhibited both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria by disrupting the outer and cytoplasmic

membrane of the bacteria. Also, Lycotoxin-Pa4a exhibited anti-inflammatory activity via modulating the expression
of inflammatory mediators through the inactivation of mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling. In this study, a

novel peptide Lycotixin-Pa4a was identified as AMP with anti-inflammatory activity and suggested the potential
development of new antibiotics and understanding of utilizing venomous biological resources. [This work was

supported by a grant from the National Institute of Biological Resources (NIBR), funded by the Ministry of
Environment (MOE) of the Republic of Korea (NIBR202009201)]