Unravelling the structural complexity of ancient Australian arthropod venoms

动物毒液含有复杂的分子混合物，这些分子经过数百万年的进化，以各种生物过程为目标。它们精致的特异性和有效的活性使它们成为具有较少副作用的治疗药物或环境友好型杀虫剂的有吸引力的开发来源。该项目旨在首次探索两种古代澳大利亚节肢动物（蜘蛛和蜈蚣）毒液中所有已知毒素类别的三维结构。这将提供一个全面的概述，这些毒液，并提供机会，在工程类新的毒液为基础的药物和杀虫剂。

Animal venoms contain a complex mix of molecules that have evolved over millions of years to target various biological processes. Their exquisite specificity and potent activity has made them an attractive source for development as therapeutic drugs with fewer side effects or as environmentally friendly insecticides. This project aims to for the first time explore the three-dimensional structure of all known classes of toxins in the venom of two ancient Australian arthropods (spiders and centipedes). This will provide a comprehensive overview of these venoms and provide opportunities in engineering new classes of venom based drugs and insecticides.