Biophysical characterization of soricidin

Sackville, New Brunswick-based Soricimed Biopharma Inc. develops pharmaceutical agents based uponproprietary peptides. These are based upon the venomous peptide soricidin derived from the northernshort-tailed shrew, one of the most common mammals in Atlantic Canada. To date, full use of soricidin has notbeen possible due to lack of knowledge about its chemical configuration and atomic-level structuring.Chemical detail about one region of soricidin, in particular, remains elusive.Peptide structure and chemical configuration are amenable to study by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)spectroscopy. Dr. Jan Rainey at Dalhousie University has been using NMR spectroscopy to study peptides andproteins for over 16 years, with numerous peer-reviewed papers in this area. As a follow-up to an NSERCConnect Grant, this Engage Grant is aimed at applying NMR spectroscopy to shed light on the elusivechemical and structural features of soricidin.In initial stages, existing proprietary soricidin-derived peptides will be studied in parallel with development ofmethods to produce native soricidin that is more amenable to modern high-resolution NMR spectroscopytechniques through incorporation of NMR-active carbon and nitrogen nuclei. Following this, NMRspectroscopy will be employed to directly probe the conifguration of a series of unknown chemical bonds(disfulfides) in soricidin alongside the atomic structuring that is observed throughout the natural peptide. Thiswill, in turn, allow Soricimed to develop new proprietary bioactive peptides having the correct disulfidebonding pattern.