Using the deadly mu-conotoxins as probes of voltage-gated sodium channels.
Mu-Conotoxins (mu-CTX) are potent Na channel inhibitory peptides isolated from the venom of the predatory marine snail Conus geographus. Mu-CTXs exert their biological action by physically occluding the ion-conducting pore of voltage-gated Na (Na(v)) channels with a 1:1 stoichiometry in an all-or-none fashion. This article reviews our current knowledge of the mechanism of mu-CTX and the associated structural and functional insights into its molecular target--Na(v) channels.
Li
Ronald A
RA
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Ross 871, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. ronaldli@jhmi.edu
Tomaselli
Gordon F
GF
D000818:Animals; D020916:Conotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects*; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012908:Snails; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000187:drug effects*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
D020916:Conotoxins; D009498:Neurotoxins; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers; D015222:Sodium Channels