Centipede Venom: A Potential Source of Ion Channel Modulators

Centipedes are one of the most ancient and successful living venomous animals. They have evolved spooky venoms to deter predators or hunt prey, and are widely distributed throughout the world besides Antarctica. Neurotoxins are the most important virulence factor affecting the function of the nervou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Molecular Sciences
Main Authors: Anna Luo, Aili Wang, Peter Muiruri Kamau, Ren Lai, Lei Luo
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23137105
https://doaj.org/article/24efb6b631bb4544b9764816d36aeb9e
Description
Summary:Centipedes are one of the most ancient and successful living venomous animals. They have evolved spooky venoms to deter predators or hunt prey, and are widely distributed throughout the world besides Antarctica. Neurotoxins are the most important virulence factor affecting the function of the nervous system. Ion channels and receptors expressed in the nervous system, including Na V , K V , Ca V , and TRP families, are the major targets of peptide neurotoxins. Insight into the mechanism of neurotoxins acting on ion channels contributes to our understanding of the function of both channels and centipede venoms. Meanwhile, the novel structure and selective activities give them the enormous potential to be modified and exploited as research tools and biological drugs. Here, we review the centipede venom peptides that act on ion channels.