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Snake Venom Toxins Targeted at the Nervous System

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Snake Venoms

Part of the book series: Toxinology ((TOXI))

Abstract

One of the main venom targets in a prey organism is the nervous system. The disturbance of this system kills or paralyzes a prey effectively. To achieve this task, snake venoms contain an array of peptide and protein toxins called neurotoxins which belong to several structural types and possess diverse biological activities. The most abundant neurotoxin groups are three-finger toxins and phospholipases A2, while other less represented groups include dendrotoxins of BPTI–Kunitz-type family, CRISPs (cysteine-rich secretory proteins), acetylcholine esterase, and peptide toxins. Neurotoxins affect different departments of the nervous system including both the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The toxins impairing the somatic PNS are acting at presynaptic site (β-neurotoxicity) or postsynaptic site (α-neurotoxicity); there are neurotoxins active inside a synaptic cleft as well. Effectors of sympathetic and parasympathetic systems of the autonomic PNS are also found in the venoms. Snake venom contains also neurotrophins and blockers of several types of ion channels, including effectors of sensory systems. Acting at different sites of the nervous system and being complementary, neurotoxins produce a cumulative effect resulting in very efficient oppression of the prey or predator.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Toxinology, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Miklukho-Maklaya 16/10, 117997, Moscow, Russia

    Alexey V. Osipov & Yuri N. Utkin

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  1. Alexey V. Osipov
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  2. Yuri N. Utkin
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Correspondence to Alexey V. Osipov .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biomedical Research Institute National Institute of Advanced Industria, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Hidetoshi Inagaki

  2. University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

    Carl-Wilhelm Vogel

  3. Department of Molecular Biology and Biot, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, India

    Ashis K. Mukherjee

  4. Egyptian Society of Natural Toxins and Z, Faculty of Science Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

    Tarek R. Rahmy

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Osipov, A.V., Utkin, Y.N. (2017). Snake Venom Toxins Targeted at the Nervous System. In: Inagaki, H., Vogel, CW., Mukherjee, A., Rahmy, T. (eds) Snake Venoms. Toxinology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6410-1_23

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