Toxins 2018, 10(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins10010015
Pain-Causing Venom Peptides: Insights into Sensory Neuron Pharmacology
1
Institute for Molecular Bioscience, the University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
2
Centre for Nutrition and Gastrointestinal Diseases, Discipline of Medicine, University of Adelaide, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000, Australia
3
Visceral Pain Research Group, Human Physiology, Centre for Neuroscience, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia
4
School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD 4103, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 10 November 2017 / Revised: 19 December 2017 / Accepted: 20 December 2017 / Published: 27 December 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Animal Venoms and Pain)
Abstract
Venoms are produced by a wide variety of species including spiders, scorpions, reptiles, cnidarians, and fish for the purpose of harming or incapacitating predators or prey. While some venoms are of relatively simple composition, many contain hundreds to thousands of individual components with distinct pharmacological activity. Pain-inducing or “algesic” venom compounds have proven invaluable to our understanding of how physiological nociceptive neural networks operate. In this review, we present an overview of some of the diverse nociceptive pathways that can be modulated by specific venom components to evoke pain. View Full-TextKeywords:
animal venom; pain; ASIC; sodium channel; TRP channel; pore forming toxin
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Jami, S.; Erickson, A.; Brierley, S.M.; Vetter, I. Pain-Causing Venom Peptides: Insights into Sensory Neuron Pharmacology. Toxins 2018, 10, 15.
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