Toxinas animais seletivas a canais iônicos: uma revisão

Abstract

Animal poisons are glandular secretions that compromise biological systems. Their active biomolecules are called toxins. Many affect ion channels and ionotropic receptors, membrane proteins that control cellular ion flow. In this work a bibliographic survey was carried out about the main toxins of animal origin whose targets are ion channels. The groups with the highest toxin diversity were Conus ssp., Araneae, Scorpiones, Serpentes and Cnidaria. Toxins studies support basic and applied science. Despite their therapeutic potential, of all the studied poisons only ω-conotoxin MVIIA was approved for clinical use. So the field still has a lot to offer.