Snails In Silico: A Review of Computational Studies on the Conopeptides.

ABSTRACT: Marine cone snails are carnivorous gastropods that use peptide toxins called conopeptides both as a defense mechanism and as a means to immobilize and kill their prey. These peptide toxins exhibit a large chemical diversity that enables exquisite specificity and potency for target receptor proteins. This diversity arises in terms of variations both in amino acid sequence and length, and in posttranslational modifications, particularly the formation of multiple disulfide linkages. Most of the functionally characterized conopeptides target ion channels of animal nervous systems, which has led to research on their therapeutic applications. Many facets of the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for the specificity and virulence of conopeptides, however, remain poorly understood. In thi

SUBMITTER: Mansbach RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6471681 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature