Pharmacology of predatory and defensive venom peptides in cone snails

• Published in: Molecular bioSystems Vol. 13; no. 12; pp. 2453 - 2465
• Main Authors: Prashanth, Jutty Rajan, Dutertre, Sebastien, Lewis, Richard James
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 2017
• Subjects: Adaptability; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Chemical Sciences; Conotoxins; Conotoxins - chemistry; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Gastropoda; Life Sciences; Medicinal Chemistry; Neurotoxicity; Peptides; Peptides - chemistry; Pharmacology; Phylogeny; Predators; Prey; Protein Structure, Secondary; Snails; Snails - chemistry; Structure-function relationships; Toxicology; Venom; Venoms - chemistry
• ISSN: 1742-206X; 1742-2051
• DOI: 10.1039/c7mb00511c

Cone snails are predatory gastropods whose neurotoxic venom peptides (conotoxins) have been extensively studied for pharmacological probes, venom evolution mechanisms and potential therapeutics. Conotoxins have a wide range of structural and functional classes that continue to undergo accelerated evolution that underlies the rapid expansion of the genus over their short evolutionary history. A number of pharmacological classes, driven by separately evolved defensive and predatory venoms, have been hypothesised to facilitate shifts in prey that exemplify the adaptability of cone snails. Here we provide an overview of these pharmacological families and discuss their ecological roles and evolutionary impact. Cone snails use distinct venoms for defence and prey capture. The pharmacology of these neurotoxic peptides have been extensively studied for pharmacological probes, venom evolution mechanisms and potential therapeutics.