A comprehensive review authored by Prof. Luo Sulan’s team from the GXU School of Medicine (GXU), entitled Conotoxins Targeting Voltage-Gated Sodium Ion Channels, has recently been published in the esteemed international journal Pharmacological Reviews—the leading publication in the field of pharmacology. The first authors of the paper were from the GXU School of Medicine and Guangxi Key Laboratory of Specialty Biomedicine. Pei Shengrong, a master’s student at the GXU School of Medicine from the class of 2021, is the first author. Prof. Zhu Xiaopeng and Prof. Luo Sulan were the corresponding authors of the paper. This article represents the fruit of an international collaboration between Prof. Luo Sulan’s team and Academician David J. Craik of the University of Queensland, Australia, and Prof. J. Michael McIntosh of the University of Utah, USA.
This article details the research progress on conotoxin, a marine active peptide that targets voltage-gated sodium ion channels (NaV). Sodium ion channels play a crucial role in action potential generation and conduction. Their dysfunction can lead to a range of pathological conditions, including neuropathic pain, epilepsy, and cardiac arrhythmia. These conditions represent significant therapeutic targets for drug development. Conotoxins represent a significant class of peptide neurotoxins secreted by the marine mollusk Conus conchiferous. Some of these peptides possess the ability to target sodium channels and differentiate between various subtypes. Thereby they can serve as an invaluable pharmacological tool and a promising lead drug, with substantial potential for new drug development. The goal of this article is to present a systematic review of conotoxins targeting sodium channels, specifically the various types, pharmacological activities, structures, research and development, and future application. The authors intended for this review to provide a research strategy for the development of new marine drugs targeting sodium channels and to accelerate the application of conotoxin peptides.
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