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Voltage Gated Sodium Channels pp 203–229Cite as

Animal Toxins Influence Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Function

Part of the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology book series (HEP,volume 221)

Abstract

Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels are essential contributors to neuronal excitability, making them the most commonly targeted ion channel family by toxins found in animal venoms. These molecules can be used to probe the functional aspects of Nav channels on a molecular level and to explore their physiological role in normal and diseased tissues. This chapter summarizes our existing knowledge of the mechanisms by which animal toxins influence Nav channels as well as their potential application in designing therapeutic drugs.

Keywords

  • Sodium channel
  • Animal toxin
  • Pore-blocker
  • Gating-modifier
  • Venom

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Kenton J Swartz and Marie-France Martin-Eauclaire for hanatoxin, and AaHII/CssIV, respectively, and Thomas Gilchrist for making silhouettes that were adapted from photographs of Takifugu rupripes (Emőke Dénes/CC-BY-SA 2.5), Phyllobates bicolor (Luis Miguel Bugallo Sánchez/CC-BY-SA 3.0), Brachypelma smithi (Fir0002/CC-BY-SA 3.0), Centruroides suffusus (Pedro Sánchez/CC-BY-SA 3.0), Androctonus australis (Kmo5ap/CC-BY-SA 3.0), Vespula germanica (Richard Bartz/CC-BY-SA 2.5), and a diagram of an anemone (Hans Hillewaert/CC-BY-SA 3.0). TTX and β-pompilidotoxin were acquired from Alomone labs, ATX-II from Sigma Aldrich, and BTX was obtained from Latoxan through Fisher Scientific.

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  1. Department of Physiology, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    John Gilchrist & Frank Bosmans

  2. Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Baldomero M. Olivera

  3. Department of Neuroscience, Solomon H. Snyder, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Frank Bosmans

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  1. John Gilchrist
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  2. Baldomero M. Olivera
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Correspondence to Baldomero M. Olivera or Frank Bosmans .

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  1. Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

    Peter C. Ruben

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Gilchrist, J., Olivera, B.M., Bosmans, F. (2014). Animal Toxins Influence Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel Function. In: Ruben, P. (eds) Voltage Gated Sodium Channels. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 221. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41588-3_10

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