New aspects in snake venom toxicology

A current perspective on snake venom composition and constituent protein families

“…The study of snake venom is a multi-disciplinary endeavour encompassing a diverse range of research areas from the therapeutic potential of toxins and drug discovery (Kalita et al 2021;Li et al 2018;Omidi et al 2021; Urra and Araya-Maturana 2022), antivenom development and the treatment of snakebite (de Silva et al 2016b, c, d, a;Fry et al 2003;Gutiérrez et al 2011;Harrison et al 2011;Maduwage et al 2015;Visser et al 2008), pathophysiology of envenomation (Maduwage et al 2013;Mamede et al 2020;Silva et al 2016bSilva et al , 2016c, using toxins as physiological probes to better understand physiological mechanisms (Chiappinelli 1983;Harvey and Robertson 2005;Kerns et al 1999;Wijeyewickrema et al 2005;Yang et al 2016), and venom characterisation, which includes venom composition and the sequence, structure and pharmacology of toxins (Bolt 2021;Kleiz-Ferreira et al 2021;Tasoulis et al 2022b;Yang et al 2016). More recently the evolutionary biology of toxins and venom has been investigated, including both inter-and intraspecific venom variation and its evolutionary and ecological significance (Margres et al 2021;Mora-Obando et al 2020;Rautsaw et al 2019;Zancolli et al 2019).…”