Predictive analysis of B-cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles spiders

The Phospholipase D (PLD) toxin family, a major component of the Loxosceles spider venom, is a valuable biotechnological tool for developing antivenom treatment and diagnostic assays to overcome and prevent loxoscelism. However, there is limited knowledge about the antigenic structure of the PLD fam...

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Main Authors: Alejandro Catalán, Carolina García, Valentina Sambra, Nicole Cadena, José Rojas, Tomás Arán-Sekul, Juan San Francisco, Valeria Vásquez-Saez, Christian Muñoz, Abel Vásquez, Jorge E. Araya
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Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Toxicon: X
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590171025000098
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author Alejandro Catalán
Carolina García
Valentina Sambra
Nicole Cadena
José Rojas
Tomás Arán-Sekul
Juan San Francisco
Valeria Vásquez-Saez
Christian Muñoz
Abel Vásquez
Jorge E. Araya
author_facet Alejandro Catalán
Carolina García
Valentina Sambra
Nicole Cadena
José Rojas
Tomás Arán-Sekul
Juan San Francisco
Valeria Vásquez-Saez
Christian Muñoz
Abel Vásquez
Jorge E. Araya
author_sort Alejandro Catalán
collection DOAJ
description The Phospholipase D (PLD) toxin family, a major component of the Loxosceles spider venom, is a valuable biotechnological tool for developing antivenom treatment and diagnostic assays to overcome and prevent loxoscelism. However, there is limited knowledge about the antigenic structure of the PLD family or if sequence diversity correlates with antigenic variability. This study aimed to evaluate the possible antigenic diversity of PLDs sequences among different species of spiders of the Loxosceles genus through a predictive analysis of potential continuous and discontinuous antigenic epitopes of two phylogenetic interspecies clusters. Thus, L. laeta had higher amino acid sequence variation than other species, being classified into three phylogenetic clusters at the intra-specie level. Furthermore, multiple alignments of consensus PLD sequences from each Loxosceles species showed two different phylogenetic clusters at interspecies level depending on the amino acid conservation. For each cluster, at least nine continuous antigenic domains were identified, and depending on the phylogenetic cluster belonging to the Loxosceles species, the PLD continuous and discontinuous antigenic structure varies. Also, L. laeta PLDs vary significantly within the Loxosceles species and possess their own antigenic structure compared to other species with common continuous epitopes. Finally, the catalytic loop was identified as a common discontinuous epitope in the PLDs independently of the cluster or the class it belongs to. This antigenic diversity of PLD toxins could have implications for antibody recognition and should be considered in the design strategies for the development of serum treatments and diagnostic assays to detect Loxosceles venom.
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spelling doaj-art-5c8f10db1b544f21b66f93ad9b10a7612025-08-20T03:42:29ZengElsevierToxicon: X2590-17102025-06-012610022210.1016/j.toxcx.2025.100222Predictive analysis of B-cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles spidersAlejandro Catalán0Carolina García1Valentina Sambra2Nicole Cadena3José Rojas4Tomás Arán-Sekul5Juan San Francisco6Valeria Vásquez-Saez7Christian Muñoz8Abel Vásquez9Jorge E. Araya10Laboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, Chile; Corresponding author.Laboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, ChileLaboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, ChileLaboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, ChileLaboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, ChileLaboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, ChileLaboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, ChileDepartamento Agencia Nacional de Dispositivos Médicos, Innovación y Desarrollo, Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile, Santiago, ChileLaboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, Chile; Centro de Investigación en Inmunología y Biotecnología Biomédica de Antofagasta, Universidad de Antofagasta, ChileDepartamento Agencia Nacional de Dispositivos Médicos, Innovación y Desarrollo, Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile, Santiago, ChileLaboratorio de Investigación en Parasitología Molecular, Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta, CP 1270300, ChileThe Phospholipase D (PLD) toxin family, a major component of the Loxosceles spider venom, is a valuable biotechnological tool for developing antivenom treatment and diagnostic assays to overcome and prevent loxoscelism. However, there is limited knowledge about the antigenic structure of the PLD family or if sequence diversity correlates with antigenic variability. This study aimed to evaluate the possible antigenic diversity of PLDs sequences among different species of spiders of the Loxosceles genus through a predictive analysis of potential continuous and discontinuous antigenic epitopes of two phylogenetic interspecies clusters. Thus, L. laeta had higher amino acid sequence variation than other species, being classified into three phylogenetic clusters at the intra-specie level. Furthermore, multiple alignments of consensus PLD sequences from each Loxosceles species showed two different phylogenetic clusters at interspecies level depending on the amino acid conservation. For each cluster, at least nine continuous antigenic domains were identified, and depending on the phylogenetic cluster belonging to the Loxosceles species, the PLD continuous and discontinuous antigenic structure varies. Also, L. laeta PLDs vary significantly within the Loxosceles species and possess their own antigenic structure compared to other species with common continuous epitopes. Finally, the catalytic loop was identified as a common discontinuous epitope in the PLDs independently of the cluster or the class it belongs to. This antigenic diversity of PLD toxins could have implications for antibody recognition and should be considered in the design strategies for the development of serum treatments and diagnostic assays to detect Loxosceles venom.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590171025000098Antigenic structureLoxosceles speciesEpitope variation
spellingShingle Alejandro Catalán
Carolina García
Valentina Sambra
Nicole Cadena
José Rojas
Tomás Arán-Sekul
Juan San Francisco
Valeria Vásquez-Saez
Christian Muñoz
Abel Vásquez
Jorge E. Araya
Predictive analysis of B-cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles spiders
Toxicon: X
Antigenic structure
Loxosceles species
Epitope variation
title Predictive analysis of B-cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles spiders
title_full Predictive analysis of B-cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles spiders
title_fullStr Predictive analysis of B-cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles spiders
title_full_unstemmed Predictive analysis of B-cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles spiders
title_short Predictive analysis of B-cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase D toxins from Loxosceles spiders
title_sort predictive analysis of b cell antigenic epitopes in phospholipase d toxins from loxosceles spiders
topic Antigenic structure
Loxosceles species
Epitope variation
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590171025000098
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