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Article

Insect-Active Toxins with Promiscuous Pharmacology from the African Theraphosid Spider Monocentropus balfouri

by
Jennifer J. Smith
1,†,
Volker Herzig
1,†,
Maria P. Ikonomopoulou
1,†,‡,
Sławomir Dziemborowicz
2,
Frank Bosmans
3,
Graham M. Nicholson
2 and
Glenn F. King
1,*
1
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
2
School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, Sydney 2007, Australia
3
Department of Physiology & Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
‡
Present address: QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia.
Toxins 2017, 9(5), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins9050155
Submission received: 28 March 2017 / Revised: 24 April 2017 / Accepted: 28 April 2017 / Published: 5 May 2017
(This article belongs to the Section Animal Venoms)
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Abstract

Many chemical insecticides are becoming less efficacious due to rising resistance in pest species, which has created much interest in the development of new, eco-friendly bioinsecticides. Since insects are the primary prey of most spiders, their venoms are a rich source of insect-active peptides that can be used as leads for new bioinsecticides or as tools to study molecular receptors that are insecticidal targets. In the present study, we isolated two insecticidal peptides, µ/ω-TRTX-Mb1a and -Mb1b, from venom of the African tarantula Monocentropus balfouri. Recombinant µ/ω-TRTX-Mb1a and -Mb1b paralyzed both Lucilia cuprina (Australian sheep blowfly) and Musca domestica (housefly), but neither peptide affected larvae of Helicoverpa armigera (cotton bollworms). Both peptides inhibited currents mediated by voltage-gated sodium (NaV) and calcium channels in Periplaneta americana (American cockroach) dorsal unpaired median neurons, and they also inhibited the cloned Blattella germanica (German cockroach) NaV channel (BgNaV1). An additional effect seen only with Mb1a on BgNaV1 was a delay in fast inactivation. Comparison of the NaV channel sequences of the tested insect species revealed that variations in the S1–S2 loops in the voltage sensor domains might underlie the differences in activity between different phyla.
Keywords: insecticide; pharmacology; venom; sodium channel; calcium channel; spider insecticide; pharmacology; venom; sodium channel; calcium channel; spider
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MDPI and ACS Style

Smith, J.J.; Herzig, V.; Ikonomopoulou, M.P.; Dziemborowicz, S.; Bosmans, F.; Nicholson, G.M.; King, G.F. Insect-Active Toxins with Promiscuous Pharmacology from the African Theraphosid Spider Monocentropus balfouri. Toxins 2017, 9, 155. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins9050155

AMA Style

Smith JJ, Herzig V, Ikonomopoulou MP, Dziemborowicz S, Bosmans F, Nicholson GM, King GF. Insect-Active Toxins with Promiscuous Pharmacology from the African Theraphosid Spider Monocentropus balfouri. Toxins. 2017; 9(5):155. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins9050155

Chicago/Turabian Style

Smith, Jennifer J., Volker Herzig, Maria P. Ikonomopoulou, Sławomir Dziemborowicz, Frank Bosmans, Graham M. Nicholson, and Glenn F. King. 2017. "Insect-Active Toxins with Promiscuous Pharmacology from the African Theraphosid Spider Monocentropus balfouri" Toxins 9, no. 5: 155. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins9050155

APA Style

Smith, J. J., Herzig, V., Ikonomopoulou, M. P., Dziemborowicz, S., Bosmans, F., Nicholson, G. M., & King, G. F. (2017). Insect-Active Toxins with Promiscuous Pharmacology from the African Theraphosid Spider Monocentropus balfouri. Toxins, 9(5), 155. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins9050155

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