Molecular Recognition and Immunopharmacological Implications of Serratiopeptidase Targeting Snake Venom Bradykinin-Potentiating Peptides

Posted by
  Molecular Recognition and Immunopharmacological Implications of Serratiopeptidase Targeting Snake Venom Bradykinin-Potentiating Peptides Abstract Purpose Bradykinin-potentiating peptides (BPPs), found in snake venom, are known to modulate cardiovascular functions, but their susceptibility to enzymatic degradation remains poorly understood. Methods Models were generated using AlphaFold-Colab for five small BPPs (< 9 amino acids) that did not have experimentally solved structures, and those BPPs which had reliable predictions of structure (pLDDT > 80) were used for docking studies. Protein-peptide docking experiments were done using HADDOCK for studying the interaction between wild-type (WT) and mutant serratiopeptidase with BPPs. After selecting the best complex, simulation of the complex was done using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for 100 ns and binding energy determination using MM/PBSA analysis. For checking the mechanical stability of the protein-peptide complexes...

A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?

Posted by

 


A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?

Abstract

Pseudoscorpions are well known for phoretic associations with arthropods, but interactions with amphibians are rarely documented. Here we report a pseudoscorpion attached to the left palpebral region of an adult male Italian cave salamander, Speleomantes italicus, observed during a visual survey in a karst cave in Tuscany, Italy. The pseudoscorpion, assigned on the basis of visible morphology and locality to Chthonius cf. elongatus, was grasping a minute cutaneous fold on the lower margin of the left upper eyelid with one chela while the salamander moved slowly over the rock surface. No handling was performed and the initial contact between the two animals was not observed. The event therefore cannot be interpreted unambiguously, but may represent opportunistic phoresy or defensive attachment following a failed predation attempt. To our knowledge, this is the first published observation of a pseudoscorpion attached to a European plethodontid salamander and highlights a poorly documented interaction between cave salamanders and arachnids.

Colla, L., Lenci, S., Nobile, F. et al. A pseudoscorpion clinging to a cave salamander: phoresy or failed predation?. acta ethol 29, 34 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-026-00509-y