蜈蚣毒素研究最新进展

Latest Research Progress on Centipede Toxins

蜈蚣是一类分布广泛、与人类关系密切的有毒无脊椎动物。经过长期进化,蜈蚣形成了复杂的攻击和防御体系,其中最重要的是通过分泌毒液来麻醉和猎杀猎物。虽然每年都有人畜被蜈蚣叮咬的报道,但人们对蜈蚣毒液的化学组成却知之甚少。近年来,由于蛋白质和核酸研究技术的进步,对蜈蚣毒素的化学成分研究逐渐成为动物毒素资源开发利用的研究热点之一。已经报道了超过2 000条蜈蚣毒素cDNA序列,并分离纯化了超过120条蛋白/小肽纯品。这些序列与其它已知毒素的序列相似度很低,其中绝大多数的生物学功能尚待进一步证实。就近年对蜈蚣毒素研究的新进展作一综述。

Centipedes are poisonous invertebrates that are widely distributed and closely related to humans. After a long evolution, the centipede formed a complex attack and defense system, the most important of which was through the secretion of venom to anesthesia and hunting prey. Although there were reports of the centipede bites every year, the chemical compositions of the centipede venom were still largely unknown. In recent years, due to the progress of protein and nucleic acid research technology, the chemical composition of centipede toxin had gradually become one of the research hotspots of animal toxin resources development and utilization. Up to now, more than 2 000 centipede cDNA sequences have been obtained and over 120 proteins/peptides were purified. These sequences were quite different from other known animal toxins and the vast majority of the biological functions need to be further confirmed. This paper reviewed the latest progresses in the study of centipede toxins.