Latest documents http://publikationen.stub.uni-frankfurt.de/index/index/ Thu, 23 May 2013 11:19:28 +0200 Thu, 23 May 2013 11:19:28 +0200 http://publikationen.stub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/26346 Venoms from cone snails (Conidae) have been extensively studied during the last decades, but those from other members of the suborder Toxoglossa, such as of Terebridae and Turridae superfamilies attracted less interest so far. Here, we report the effects of venom and gland extracts from three species of the superfamily Terebridae. By 2-electrode voltage-clamp technique the gland extracts were tested on Xenopus oocytes expressing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) of rat neuronal (α3β2, α3β4, α4β2, α4β4, α7) and muscle subtypes (α1β1γδ), and expressing potassium (Kv1.2 and Kv1.3) and sodium channels (Nav1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6). The extracts were shown to exhibit remarkably high inhibitory activities on almost all nAChRs tested, in particular on the α7 subtype suggesting the presence of peptides of the A-superfamily from the venom of Conus species. In contrast, no effects on the potassium and sodium channels tested were observed. The venoms of terebrid snails may offer an additional source of novel biologically active peptides. Yvonne Kendel; Christian Melaun; Alexander Kurz; Annette Nicke; Steve Peigneur; Jan Tytgat; Cora Wunder; Dietrich Mebs; Silke Kauferstein article http://publikationen.stub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/26346 Thu, 23 May 2013 11:19:28 +0200 http://publikationen.stub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/27739 Cone snails are venomous predatory marine neogastropods that belong to the species-rich superfamily of the Conoidea. So far, the mitochondrial genomes of two cone snail species (Conus textile and Conus borgesi) have been described, and these feed on snails and worms, respectively. Here, we report the mitochondrial genome sequence of the fish-hunting cone snail Conus consors and describe a novel putative control region (CR) which seems to be absent in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of other cone snail species. This possible CR spans about 700 base pairs (bp) and is located between the genes encoding the transfer RNA for phenylalanine (tRNA-Phe, trnF) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit III (cox3). The novel putative CR contains several sequence motifs that suggest a role in mitochondrial replication and transcription. Age Brauer; Alexander Kurz; Tim Stockwell; Holly Baden-Tillson; Juliana Heidler; Ilka Wittig; Silke Kauferstein; Dietrich Mebs; Reto Stöcklin; Maido Remm article http://publikationen.stub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/27739 Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:33:23 +0100