α-Conotoxin imi from the snail Lymnaea stagnalis is particularly good at targeting Ac-AChBP (as in this model) which is a neuromuscular receptor in its prey Aplysia californica. This is relevant to humans as AChBPs are homologus to nAChRs which are ligand gated ion channels in the muscles of humans that determine the uptake of ions into the muscular system by binding to acetylcholine which causes contractions. α-Conotoxin imi inhibits the neuromuscular junction by binding to Ac-AChBP and two types of of nAChRs (α7 and α3β2). This stops action potentials from a nerve ending reaching a muscle or another nerve, causing paralysis (normally in the prey of the cone snail) or chronic pain relief (which is the main use of α-Conotoxins in medicine).
Refrences. https://tinyurl.com/32e67mr8 Baldomero Olivera Cone Snail Venom Peptides (27:30) https://tinyurl.com/t5mmp8bn Lamthanh et al. (1999) https://tinyurl.com/2ds8xzbn Yu et al. (2011) https://tinyurl.com/bdcsym7j McIntosh et al. (1994) And Utens et al. (2006)
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