Therapeutic potential of conopeptides.

Abstract

Conopeptides from the venoms of marine snails have attracted much interest as leads in drug design. Currently, one drug, Prialt(®), is on the market as a treatment for chronic neuropathic pain. Conopeptides target a range of ion channels, receptors and transporters, and are typically small, relatively stable peptides that are generally amenable to production using solid-phase peptide synthesis. With only a small fraction of the predicted diversity of conopeptides examined so far, these peptides represent an exciting and largely untapped resource for drug discovery. Recent efforts at chemically re-engineering conopeptides to improve their biopharmaceutical properties promise to accelerate the translation of these fascinating marine peptides to the clinic.

• Authors: Christina I Schroeder, David J Craik
• Journal: Future medicinal chemistry (Future Med Chem) Vol. 4 Issue 10 Pg. 1243-55 (Jun 2012) ISSN: 1756-8927 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 22800369 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)

Chemical References

• Conotoxins
• Venoms
• omega-Conotoxins
• ziconotide

Topics

• Animals
• Clinical Trials as Topic
• Conotoxins (chemical synthesis, therapeutic use)
• Conus Snail (metabolism)
• Drug Design
• Genomics
• Neuralgia (drug therapy)
• Solid-Phase Synthesis Techniques
• Venoms (metabolism)
• omega-Conotoxins (chemical synthesis, therapeutic use)