Citation

Bohlen CJ, Julius D. Toxicon 2012; 60(3): 254-264.

Affiliation

Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158-2517, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.04.336

PMID

22538196

Abstract

Venoms often target vital processes to cause paralysis or death, but many types of venom also elicit notoriously intense pain. While these pain-producing effects can result as a byproduct of generalized tissue trauma, there are now multiple examples of venom-derived toxins that target somatosensory nerve terminals in order to activate nociceptive (pain-sensing) neural pathways. Intriguingly, investigation of the venom components that are responsible for evoking pain has revealed novel roles and/or configurations of well-studied toxin motifs. This review serves to highlight pain-producing toxins that target the capsaicin receptor, TRPV1, or members of the acid-sensing ion channel family, and to discuss the utility of venom-derived multivalent and multimeric complexes.

Language: en