Cruz L J, Ramilo C A, Corpuz G P, Olivera B M
Biol Bull. 1992 Aug;183(1):159-164. doi: 10.2307/1542418.
The major function of the venoms of the predatory marine snails belonging to the genus Conus is to paralyze prey. Thus, the venom of each Conus species acts on receptors and ion channels of the prey; previous studies suggested much less activity on homologous receptor targets in more distant taxa. In this article, we address the question of whether some peptide components of Conus venoms ("conopeptides") have "cross-phylum" biological activity. We examined the venom of Conus textile, a mollusk-hunting Conus, using a mammalian biological activity assay. We purified a 23 amino acid "convulsant peptide" with potent activity in the mammalian CNS, even though it comes from the venom of a snail-hunting Conus species. A survey of Conus textile venom fractions indicates that, in addition to the convulsant peptide, many other components of this venom will exhibit "cross-phylum" biological activity. Conopeptides with broad-range phylogenetic specificity should be useful tools for studying the evolution of receptors and ion channels, and of nervous systems.
属于芋螺属的掠食性海洋蜗牛毒液的主要功能是使猎物麻痹。因此，每种芋螺的毒液作用于猎物的受体和离子通道；先前的研究表明，在更远缘的分类群中，其对同源受体靶点的活性要低得多。在本文中，我们探讨了芋螺毒液的某些肽成分（“芋螺肽”）是否具有“跨门”生物活性这一问题。我们使用哺乳动物生物活性测定法，研究了捕食软体动物的芋螺——织锦芋螺的毒液。我们纯化出了一种含有23个氨基酸的“惊厥肽”，它在哺乳动物中枢神经系统中具有强大活性，尽管它来自一种捕食蜗牛的芋螺物种的毒液。对织锦芋螺毒液组分的一项调查表明，除了惊厥肽之外，这种毒液的许多其他成分也将表现出“跨门”生物活性。具有广泛系统发育特异性的芋螺肽应该是研究受体、离子通道以及神经系统进化的有用工具。
