Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Conotoxins targeting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: an overview
Lebbe, E.K.M.; Peigneur, S.; Wijesekara, I.; Tytgat, J. (2014). Conotoxins targeting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: an overview. Mar. Drugs 12(5): 2970-3004. dx.doi.org/10.3390/md12052970
In: Marine Drugs. Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI): Basel. ISSN 1660-3397; e-ISSN 1660-3397, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Conus Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    nicotinic acetylcholine receptor; cone snail toxins; alpha-conotoxins;mode of action; working mechanism; acetylcholine binding protein;crystallography; docking model

Authors  Top 

Abstract
    Marine snails of the genus Conus are a large family of predatory gastropods with an unparalleled molecular diversity of pharmacologically active compounds in their venom. Cone snail venom comprises of a rich and diverse cocktail of peptide toxins which act on a wide variety of ion channels such as voltage-gated sodium- (NaV), potassium- (KV), and calcium- (CaV) channels as well as nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) which are classified as ligand-gated ion channels. The mode of action of several conotoxins has been the subject of investigation, while for many others this remains unknown. This review aims to give an overview of the knowledge we have today on the molecular pharmacology of conotoxins specifically interacting with nAChRs along with the structure–function relationship data.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors