T-Type Cav3.2 Calcium Channels as Possible Targets for Conus geographus Venom

Angotti, Anthony

T-Type Cav3.2 Calcium Channels as Possible Targets for Conus geographus Venom

Persistent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/10456/15644

Author(s)

Angotti, Anthony

Date Issued

April 4, 2011

Abstract

The pharmaceutical industry has been searching for a specific T-Type calcium channel blocker for decades. The development of ziconotide, which was derived from an omega conotoxin, as a treatment for chronic pain led to an upsurge of research centered on conotoxins as potential therapeutic agents. Conotoxins are neurotoxic peptides from Conus venom. Conus snails use their venom to paralyze their prey by targeting its ion channels. The scope of the Conus venom has been estimated to contain more than 50,000 different pharmacologically active components, with 50 to 200 different active components per species. It has been widely reported that the most potent venom is utilized by Conus geographus, a piscivorous marine cone snail known to cause human fatalities. This study was designed to analyze the effects of C. geographus venom over time on Cav3.2 calcium channels expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes using two-electrode voltage clamp techniques. The results of this study indicate that C. geographus crude venom inhibits Cav3.2 calcium channels. Moreover, the venom must contain a conotoxin that selectively targets naturally occurring Cav3.2 calcium channels. Identifying this conotoxin could provide the pharmaceutical industry with an effective treatment for epilepsy, cardiac hypertrophy, cancer, chronic pain, and other serious health concerns.

First Reader(s)

French, Lauren