Peptide Neurotoxins That Affect Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels A Close-Up on ω-Agatoxins 英文参考文献.docVIP

Toxins 2011, 3, 17-42; doi:10.3390/toxins3010017 OPEN ACCESS toxins ISSN 2072-6651 /journal/toxins Review Peptide Neurotoxins That Affect Voltage-Gated Calcium Channels: A Close-Up on ?-Agatoxins Emilie Pringos, Michel Vignes, Jean Martinez and Valerie Rolland * IBMM, UMR 5247, CNRS, Max Mousseron Institut of Biomolecules, Montpellier 1 2, Place E. Bataillon, Montpellier, France; E-Mails: epringos@univ-montp2.fr (E.P.); michel.vignes@univ-montp2.fr (M.V.); jean.martinez@univ-montp1.fr (J.M.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: valerie.rolland@univ-montp2.fr; Tel.: +33-467-144-936; Fax: +33-467-144-866. Received: 14 October 2010; in revised form: 23 December 2010 / Accepted: 30 December 2010 / Published: 4 January 2011 Abstract: Peptide neurotoxins found in animal venoms have gained great interest in the field of neurotransmission. As they are high affinity ligands for calcium, potassium and sodium channels, they have become useful tools for studying channel structure and activity. Peptide neurotoxins represent the clinical potential of ion-channel modulators across several therapeutic fields, especially in developing new strategies for treatment of ion channel-related diseases. The aim of this review is to overview the latest updates in the domain of peptide neurotoxins that affect voltage-gated calcium channels, with a special focus on ?-agatoxins. Keywords: ?-agatoxin IV B; peptide neurotoxins; voltage-gated calcium channels 1. Introduction Numerous peptides found in animal venom have become invaluable tools for the study of the physiological role and structure of the channels and receptors. Peptide toxins with nanomolar affinities for corresponding targets proved to be useful agents for discriminating between different types of native ion channel currents. Regarding the relatively small size of peptide toxins, these can be obtained by chemical synthesis or rec