Spider venom contains a complex mixture of components with a large range of molecular masses (0.1–60kDa) exhibiting a diverse array of actions. Most of these components are proteinaceous molecules – biologically active proteins and peptides. Proteomics profiling of spider venoms (the components with MW >10kDa) could be achieved through conventional 2-DE-based proteomics methods combined with MS or MS/MS detection. Peptidomic profiling (of the components with MW below ~10kDa) is usually achieved through off-line separation by a combination of ion-exchange and reverse-phase chromatography, and it relies more heavily on de novo sequencing by Edman degradation or MS/MS for peptide identification.
