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Toxins
Special Issues
Breakthrough Research on Animal Toxins and Venoms Application
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Breakthrough Research on Animal Toxins and Venoms Application

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Venoms".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 2125

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Gihyun Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Korean Medicine, Dongshin University, 67 Dongshindae-gil, Naju 58245, Republic of Korea
Interests: venom; drug discovery; pharmacology; herbal medicine; immune response
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Soo-Hyun Sung

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Policy Development, National Institute of Korean Medicine Development, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Interests: animal venom; bee venom, herbal medicines; pharmacopuncture (herbal acupuncture); pain
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent breakthrough research has focused on understanding and utilizing animal toxins and venoms for various applications. Animal toxins have evolved over millions of years to serve specific purposes, and their molecules can be used in medicine, agriculture, and other fields. In medicine, venoms have been used to create more effective painkillers and to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer. In agriculture, animal toxins and venoms are being studied for their potential to serve as natural pesticides and herbicides. Overall, research on animal toxins and venoms is expanding our understanding of these complex substances and their potential applications.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • New discoveries of animal toxins and venoms and their potential applications;
  • The use of animal toxins and venoms in drug development and medical treatments;
  • The potential of animal toxins and venoms as natural pesticides and herbicides in agriculture;
  • The impact of animal toxins and venoms on basic biological processes and their potential use in biotechnology;
  • The challenges and opportunities of studying animal toxins and venoms, including ethical considerations and safety concerns;
  • The role of interdisciplinary approaches in advancing research on animal toxins and venoms and their applications.

Dr. Gihyun Lee
Dr. Soo-Hyun Sung
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • application
  • animal venom
  • toxin
  • drug development
  • natural pesticides
  • interdisciplinary approaches

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

16 pages, 4405 KiB  
Article
In Silico-Based Design of a Hybrid Peptide with Antimicrobial Activity against Multidrug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Using a Spider Toxin Peptide
by Min Kyoung Shin, Hye-Ran Park, In-Wook Hwang, Kyung-Bin Bu, Bo-Young Jang, Seung-Ho Lee, Jin Wook Oh, Jung Sun Yoo and Jung-Suk Sung
Toxins 2023, 15(12), 668; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15120668 - 23 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1592
Abstract
The escalating prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria poses an immediate and grave threat to public health. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have gained significant attention as a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics. Animal venom comprises a diverse array of bioactive compounds, which can be a rich [...] Read more.
The escalating prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria poses an immediate and grave threat to public health. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have gained significant attention as a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics. Animal venom comprises a diverse array of bioactive compounds, which can be a rich source for identifying new functional peptides. In this study, we identified a toxin peptide, Lycotoxin-Pa1a (Lytx-Pa1a), from the transcriptome of the Pardosa astrigera spider venom gland. To enhance its functional properties, we employed an in silico approach to design a novel hybrid peptide, KFH-Pa1a, by predicting antibacterial and cytotoxic functionalities and incorporating the amino-terminal Cu(II)- and Ni(II) (ATCUN)-binding motif. KFH-Pa1a demonstrated markedly superior antimicrobial efficacy against pathogens, including multidrug-resistant (MDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa, compared to Lytx-Pa1a. Notably, KFH-Pa1a exerted several distinct mechanisms, including the disruption of the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane, the generation of intracellular ROS, and the cleavage and inhibition of bacterial DNA. Additionally, the hybrid peptide showed synergistic activity when combined with conventional antibiotics. Our research not only identified a novel toxin peptide from spider venom but demonstrated in silico-based design of hybrid AMP with strong antimicrobial activity that can contribute to combating MDR pathogens, broadening the utilization of biological resources by incorporating computational approaches. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breakthrough Research on Animal Toxins and Venoms Application)
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