Therapeutic potential of conopeptides.
Conopeptides from the venoms of marine snails have attracted much interest as leads in drug design. Currently, one drug, Prialt(®), is on the market as a treatment for chronic neuropathic pain. Conopeptides target a range of ion channels, receptors and transporters, and are typically small, relatively stable peptides that are generally amenable to production using solid-phase peptide synthesis. With only a small fraction of the predicted diversity of conopeptides examined so far, these peptides represent an exciting and largely untapped resource for drug discovery. Recent efforts at chemically re-engineering conopeptides to improve their biopharmaceutical properties promise to accelerate the translation of these fascinating marine peptides to the clinic.
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Queensland, Australia.
Christina I
CI
Schroeder
David J
DJ
Craik
D000818:Animals; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D020916:Conotoxins / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D052078:Conus Snail / Q000378:metabolism; D015195:Drug Design; D023281:Genomics; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D060327:Solid-Phase Synthesis Techniques; D014688:Venoms / Q000378:metabolism; D020960:omega-Conotoxins / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D020916:Conotoxins; D014688:Venoms; D020960:omega-Conotoxins; C078452:ziconotide