作用于烟碱乙酰胆碱受体的α-芋螺毒素研究进展

Research progress in α-conotoxins targeting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

芋螺毒素(conotoxin,conopeptide,CTX)是从热带海洋软体动物芋螺中得到的一类具有生物活性的多肽毒素,能特异性地作用于动物体内各种离子通道及受体,已在神经科学研究领域和新药研制方面受到了前所未有的广泛关注。芋螺毒素包括O-,M-,A-,S-,T-,P-,I-,等多个超家族,其中A超家族的α-芋螺毒素是芋螺毒素家族中的一类重要成员,能特异地作用于乙酰胆碱受体(nAChRs)各种亚型,对疼痛、成瘾、抑郁症、帕金森氏病、肌肉松弛等具有潜在的药用价值。因此,对α-芋螺毒素进行深入系统地研究具有极其重要的意义。本文就作用于nAChRs的α-芋螺毒素的研究现状进行综述。

Conotoxins are a group of tropical marine biotoxins isolated from Conus, which have unique pharmacological activity of targeting various ion channels and receptors in animals. Conotoxins have attracted exten- sive attention with their potentials to be developed as new research tools in neuroscience and as novel medications. Conotoxins can be divided into O-, M-, A-, S-, T-, P-, and I-, etc. gene superfamilies, among which the A-su- perfamily of alpha-conotoxins （α-CTXs） is an important group that targets the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors （nAChRs） selectively. Alpha-conotoxins have long been considered as potential therapeutic drugs for the treatment of several neuropsychiatric diseases including pain, addiction, depression, Parkinson＇s disease, and muscle relaxa- tion, etc. So it is significant to research α-conotoxins systematically. In this review we summarized the research progress of α-conotoxins targeting nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.