title: Conotoxins That Could Provide Analgesia through Voltage Gated Sodium Channel Inhibition.
abstract: Chronic pain creates a large socio-economic burden around the world. It is physically and mentally debilitating, and many suffers are unresponsive to current therapeutics. Many drugs that provide pain relief have adverse side effects and addiction liabilities. Therefore, a great need has risen for alternative treatment strategies. One rich source of potential analgesic compounds that has immerged over the past few decades are conotoxins. These toxins are extremely diverse and display selective activity at ion channels. Voltage gated sodium (NaV) channels are one such group of ion channels that play a significant role in multiple pain pathways. This review will explore the literature around conotoxins that bind NaV channels and determine their analgesic potential.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Pharmacology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. nmun5523@uni.sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Nehan R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Munasinghe
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Pharmacology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia. mac.christie@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: MacDonald J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Christie
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia; D000700:Analgesics / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D020916:Conotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D061567:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D061566:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D020916:Conotoxins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D061567:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Blockers; D061566:Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels
keywords: NaV; analgesia; conotoxins; inhibition; ion channels; pain; toxins