Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Biol Chem. Feb 26, 2017; 8(1): 4-12
Published online Feb 26, 2017. doi: 10.4331/wjbc.v8.i1.4
Modern trends in animal venom research - omics and nanomaterials
Yuri N Utkin
Yuri N Utkin, Laboratory of Molecular Toxinology, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, 117997 Moscow, Russia
Yuri N Utkin, National University of Science and Technology MISiS, 119049 Moscow, Russia
Author contributions: Utkin YN performed all activities related to the intellectual preparation and writing of this paper.
Supported by The Russian Foundation for Basic Research, No. 15-04-01843; the Ministry of Science and Education of the Russian Federation, No. RFMEFI58414X0006.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Utkin YN declares no conflict of interest related to this publication.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Yuri N Utkin, PhD, Professor, Laboratory of Molecular Toxinology, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Miklukho-Maklaya 16/10, V-437, 117997 Moscow, Russia. utkin@mx.ibch.ru
Telephone: +7-495-3366522 Fax: +7-495-3366522
Received: September 27, 2016
Peer-review started: September 28, 2016
First decision: October 26, 2016
Revised: December 20, 2016
Accepted: December 27, 2016
Article in press: December 28, 2016
Published online: February 26, 2017
Processing time: 151 Days and 16.1 Hours
Abstract

Animal venom research is a specialized investigation field, in which a number of different methods are used and this array is constantly expanding. Thus, recently emerged omics and nanotechnologies have already been successfully applied to venom research. Animal venoms have been studied for quite a long time. The traditional reductionist approach has been to isolate individual toxins and then study their structure and function. Unfortunately, the characterization of the venom as a whole system and its multiple effects on an entire organism were not possible until recent times. The development of new methods in mass spectrometry and sequencing have allowed such characterizations of venom, encompassing the identification of new toxins present in venoms at extremely low concentrations to changes in metabolism of prey organisms after envenomation. In particular, this type of comprehensive research has become possible due to the development of the various omics technologies: Proteomics, peptidomics, transcriptomics, genomics and metabolomics. As in other research fields, these omics technologies ushered in a revolution for venom studies, which is now entering the era of big data. Nanotechnology is a very new branch of technology and developing at an extremely rapid pace. It has found application in many spheres and has not bypassed the venom studies. Nanomaterials are quite promising in medicine, and most studies combining venoms and nanomaterials are dedicated to medical applications. Conjugates of nanoparticles with venom components have been proposed for use as drugs or diagnostics. For example, nanoparticles conjugated with chlorotoxin - a toxin in scorpion venom, which has been shown to bind specifically to glioma cells - are considered as potential glioma-targeted drugs, and conjugates of neurotoxins with fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles or quantum dots may be used to detect endogenous targets expressed in live cells. The data on application of omics and nanotechnologies in venom research are systematized concisely in this paper.

Keywords: Animal venom; Proteomics; Peptidomics; Transcriptomics; Nanotechnology; Genomics; Quantum dots; Nanoparticles; Metabolomics

Core tip: A number of different methods are used in animal venom research, and this array is constantly expanding. The development of new methods in mass spectrometry and sequencing have allowed for the characterization of venom at different levels, ranging from identification of new toxins to profiling the changes in metabolism of an envenomed organism. The various omics technologies-proteomics, peptidomics, transcriptomics, genomics and metabolomics-have played key roles, as has nanotechnology. Nanomaterials are promising in medicine, and most studies combining venoms and nanomaterials are directed to medical applications, with conjugates of nanoparticles and venom components being proposed for use as drugs or diagnostics.