A Novel Bioactive Peptide with Myotropic Activity from Wasp Venoms

AimTo study the chemical constituents of the venom of Vespa bicolor Fabricius collected from Shanxi Province, China.MethodsGel chromatography and HPLC were applied to isolate a peptide from the venom. Mass spectrometry and Edman degradation were used for its structural characterization. The cDNA encoding vespin-BF precursor was cloned from the cDNA library of the venomous glands. The synthetic peptide was used for its bioassay.ResultsA novel bioactive peptide (vespin-BF) with unique primary structure was purified and characterized. Its amino acid sequence was determined as TYQRKMAITAGAVKHRLMSTTIIIILVRIE YLRDNMVISLESSF. Vespin-BF induced contraction of isolated ileum smooth muscle. The precursor is composed of 67 amino acid residues including the predicted signal peptide and mature vespin-BF. A di-basic enzymatic processing site (-KR-) was located between the signal and the mature peptide. BLAST search indicated that vespin-BF shows obvious similarity to vespin identified from the venoms of Vespa magnifica.ConclusionA novel bioactive peptide from the wasp venoms was characterized.