The Toxicological Intersection between Allergen and Toxin: A Structural Comparison of the Cat Dander Allergenic Protein Fel d1 and the Slow Loris Brachial Gland Secretion Protein
by
Holger Scheib 1, K. Anne-Isola Nekaris 2,3, Johanna Rode-Margono 2,4, Lotten Ragnarsson 5, Kate Baumann 1, James S. Dobson 1, Wirdateti Wirdateti 6, Amanda Nouwens 7, Vincent Nijman 2,3, Paolo Martelli 8, Rui Ma 9, Richard J. Lewis 5, Hang Fai Kwok 9,* and Bryan Grieg Fry 1,*
Holger Scheib 1, K. Anne-Isola Nekaris 2,3, Johanna Rode-Margono 2,4, Lotten Ragnarsson 5, Kate Baumann 1, James S. Dobson 1, Wirdateti Wirdateti 6, Amanda Nouwens 7, Vincent Nijman 2,3, Paolo Martelli 8, Rui Ma 9, Richard J. Lewis 5, Hang Fai Kwok 9,* and Bryan Grieg Fry 1,*
1
Venom Evolution Lab: School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia
2
Nocturnal Primate Research Group, Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
3
Centre for Functional Genomics, Department of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford OX3 0BP, UK
4
The North of England Zoological Society/Chester Zoo, Chester CH2 1LH, UK
5
Institute for Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
6
Research Center for Biology-LIPI, Jakarta-Bogor, Cibinong 16911, Indonesia
7
School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia
8
Veterinary Department: Ocean Park, Hong Kong, China
9
Institute of Translational Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida de Universidade, Taipa, Macau SAR, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Toxins 2020, 12(2), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins12020086
Received: 16 December 2019 / Revised: 22 January 2020 / Accepted: 23 January 2020 / Published: 28 January 2020
(This article belongs to the Section Animal Venoms)
Slow lorises are enigmatic animal that represent the only venomous primate lineage. Their defensive secretions have received little attention. In this study we determined the full length sequence of the protein secreted by their unique brachial glands. The full length sequences displayed homology to the main allergenic protein present in cat dander. We thus compared the molecular features of the slow loris brachial gland protein and the cat dander allergen protein, showing remarkable similarities between them. Thus we postulate that allergenic proteins play a role in the slow loris defensive arsenal. These results shed light on these neglected, novel animals.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Scheib, H.; Nekaris, K.-I.; Rode-Margono, J.; Ragnarsson, L.; Baumann, K.; Dobson, J.S.; Wirdateti, W.; Nouwens, A.; Nijman, V.; Martelli, P.; Ma, R.; Lewis, R.J.; Kwok, H.F.; Fry, B.G. The Toxicological Intersection between Allergen and Toxin: A Structural Comparison of the Cat Dander Allergenic Protein Fel d1 and the Slow Loris Brachial Gland Secretion Protein. Toxins 2020, 12, 86.
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