Scorpion Toxins Targeting Voltage-gated Sodium Channels Associated with Pain

Title:Scorpion Toxins Targeting Voltage-gated Sodium Channels Associated with Pain

Volume: 19 Issue: 11

Author(s): Yijia Xu, Junxin Sun, Hongyu Liu, Jianfang Sun, Yue Yu, Yang Su, Yong Cui, Mingyi Zhao* Jinghai Zhang*

Affiliation:

• School of Life Sciences and Biopharmaceutical Science, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, CN,China

• School of Medical Devices, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110016, CN,China

Keywords: Pain, VGSC, peptide, scorpion toxin, autoimmune diseases, NSAIDs.

Abstract: Pain affects approximately 30% of people and places a large economic and social burden on society. Despite the availability of a range of analgesics, complete alleviation of symptoms still rarely occurred. Effective and safe drugs for the treatment of pain are still an unmet clinical need. In recent years, the voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) have been recognized as potential targets for analgesic development. VGSCs are major players in generating and propagating action potentials. They represent an appealing target for the development of new and safer drugs in the treatment of pain. The majority of the research has been focused on Nav1.7 in particular, other VGSC subtypes, such as Nav1.1, Nav1.3, Nav1.6, Nav1.8 and Nav1.9 have recently come to the forefront of analgesic research. Peptides from scorpion have been proved to be a valuable tool in neuroscience, playing a significant role in the identification and characterization of VGSC subtypes and many of them resulting in analgesia in pain. This review assesses the potential of scorpion toxin targeting VGSCs for analgesic development.

Cite this article as:

Xu Yijia , Sun Junxin , Liu Hongyu , Sun Jianfang , Yu Yue , Su Yang , Cui Yong , Zhao Mingyi *, Zhang Jinghai *, Scorpion Toxins Targeting Voltage-gated Sodium Channels Associated with Pain, Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology 2018; 19 (11) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389201019666181105160744