Studies on waprins: A novel family of snake venom proteins

Abstract

Waprins belong to a new family of snake venom proteins. We studied two new members of the waprin family, a??omwaprina?? from Oxyuranus microlepidotus and a??nawaprina?? from Naja nigricollis venoms. Studies on these novel proteins may help us to develop new therapeutic tools or pharmacological agents. Since the bioavailability of waprins in the source snake venoms is low, we resorted to recombinant protein production. Omwaprin, which is cationic at physiological conditions showed dose-dependant antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria in radial diffusion assays. Our studies showed that this antibacterial activity is structure-dependant, salt tolerant and specifically targets bacterial membranes. The potential of this novel antibacterial protein as a research tool and as a prototype for the development of therapeutic agents will be highlighted.