2. Academic Validation
  3. Ant venoms contain vertebrate-selective pain-causing sodium channel toxins

Ant venoms contain vertebrate-selective pain-causing sodium channel toxins

  • Nat Commun. 2023 May 23;14(1):2977. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38839-1.
Samuel D Robinson 1,  Jennifer R Deuis 2,  Axel Touchard 3 4,  Angelo Keramidas 2,  Alexander Mueller 2,  Christina I Schroeder 2 5,  Valentine Barassé 4,  Andrew A Walker 2,  Nina Brinkwirth 6,  Sina Jami 2,  Elsa Bonnafé 4,  Michel Treilhou 4,  Eivind A B Undheim 2 7 8,  Justin O Schmidt 9 10,  Glenn F King 2 11,  Irina Vetter 12 13
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. [email protected].
  • 2 Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
  • 3 CNRS, UMR Ecologie des forêts de Guyane (EcoFoG), Campus Agronomique; BP 316, 97379, Kourou, Cedex, France.
  • 4 Equipe BTSB-EA 7417, Université de Toulouse, Institut National Universitaire Jean-François Champollion; Place de Verdun, 81012, Albi, France.
  • 5 Genentech, 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, 94080, CA, USA.
  • 6 Nanion Technologies, Munich, 80339, Germany.
  • 7 Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, The University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
  • 8 Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
  • 9 Southwestern Biological Institute, Tucson, AZ 85745, USA.
  • 10 Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
  • 11 Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
  • 12 Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia. [email protected].
  • 13 School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Wooloongabba, QLD 4102, Australia. [email protected].
PMID: 37221205 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38839-1
Abstract

Stings of certain ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) can cause intense, long-lasting nociception. Here we show that the major contributors to these symptoms are venom Peptides that modulate the activity of voltage-gated sodium (NaV) channels, reducing their voltage threshold for activation and inhibiting channel inactivation. These peptide toxins are likely vertebrate-selective, consistent with a primarily defensive function. They emerged early in the Formicidae lineage and may have been a pivotal factor in the expansion of ants.

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