conotoxins that confer therapeutic possibilities个基因治疗的可能性.pdfVIP

Mar. Drugs 2012, 10, 1244-1265; doi:10.3390/m OPEN ACCESS Marine Drugs ISSN 1660-3397 /journal/marinedrugs Review Conotoxins that Confer Therapeutic Possibilities Magbubah Essack, Vladimir B. Bajic and John A. C. Archer * Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal 23955-6900, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; E-Mails: magbubah.essack@.sa (M.E.); vladimir.bajic@.sa (V.B.B.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: john.archer@.sa; Tel.: +966-544-700-701; Fax: +966-2-802-0127. Received: 6 February 2012; in revised form: 24 April 2012 / Accepted: 24 May 2012 / Published: 4 June 2012 Abstract: Cone snails produce a distinctive repertoire of venom peptides that are used both as a defense mechanism and also to facilitate the immobilization and digestion of prey. These peptides target a wide variety of voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels, which make them an invaluable resource for studying the properties of these ion channels in normal and diseased states, as well as being a collection of compounds of potential pharmacological use in their own right. Examples include the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pharmaceutical drug, Ziconotide (Prialt®; Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) that is the synthetic equivalent of the naturally occurring ω-conotoxin MVIIA, whilst several other conotoxins are currently being used as standard research tools and scre