Toxin biology + medicine: snake/spider/cone-snail venoms; antivenoms; toxin-derived drugs; plant + fungal + bacterial + marine toxins; toxin-receptor pharmacology; envenomation; toxin evolution.
Toxinology
Snake venom classification
Hemotoxic, neurotoxic, cytotoxic, myotoxic categories; Elapidae alpha-neurotoxins block nAChR while Viperidae metalloproteinases drive…
Cone-snail conotoxins
About 700 Conus species produce 50000 plus disulfide-rich peptides targeting ion channels; ziconotide (Prialt) is a Cav2.2 blocker…
Spider and scorpion toxins
Spider toxins target Nav and Cav channels; scorpion alpha and beta toxins modulate Nav inactivation; chlorotoxin from Leiurus underlies…
Antivenom development
Equine and ovine F(ab) or F(ab)2 polyvalent antivenoms remain standard care; monoclonal antibody and small-molecule (varespladib)…
Toxin-derived drugs
Captopril from Bothrops jararaca BPP, exenatide from Heloderma exendin-4, tirofiban from Echis disintegrin; about 20 marketed venom-derived…
Toxin receptor targeting
Toxins as molecular probes: alpha-bungarotoxin labels nAChR; tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin block Nav pores; mu-conotoxins are…
Plant alkaloid toxins
Atropine (Atropa) muscarinic antagonist, nicotine (Nicotiana) nAChR agonist, ricin (Ricinus) ribosome-inactivating, aconitine (Aconitum)…
Marine toxins (saxitoxin / TTX / palytoxin)
Saxitoxin and tetrodotoxin pore-block Nav (PSP shellfish poisoning); palytoxin converts Na/K-ATPase into a channel; ciguatoxin causes Nav…
Fungal aflatoxins and mycotoxin classes
Aspergillus aflatoxin-B1 is a hepatocarcinogen (Codex 4 to 20 ppb limits); Fusarium fumonisins and trichothecenes; Penicillium ochratoxin…
Bacterial exotoxin (botulinum / tetanus / diphtheria)
Clostridium botulinum BoNT cleaves SNARE proteins (clinical Botox); tetanus TeNT is the same family; diphtheria toxin ADP-ribosylates EF-2.
Envenomation clinical management
WHO estimates 1.8 to 2.7 million envenomings and 81000 to 138000 deaths per year; supportive care plus species-specific antivenom remains…
Toxin evolution and arms race
Toxin gene families show accelerated positive selection (Ka/Ks greater than 1) tracking prey-resistance; convergent evolution of toxin…
Snake venom (Fry 2009)
B Fry 2009 + 2012 snake venom evolution; modern 3FTx + PLA2 + metalloproteinase families; antivenom-based-on-component.
Conotoxin (Olivera 1985)
B Olivera 1985 cone-snail conotoxins; modern ziconotide FDA 2004 chronic-pain; >50000-toxin diversity.
Scorpion toxin (Couraud 1982)
F Couraud 1982 + Possani 1999 scorpion alpha + beta-toxins Na-channel; modern chlorotoxin tumor-imaging + brain.
Spider venom (King 2016)
G King 2016 spider-venom drug-discovery; modern hi17a peptide chronic-pain Phase-1; >100000-toxin global diversity.
Saxitoxin / paralytic shellfish
Schantz 1957 saxitoxin; modern HAB harmful-algal-bloom + climate-change-driven; PSP regulatory monitoring.
Antivenom (Calmette 1894)
A Calmette 1894 first antivenom; modern recombinant + monoclonal anti-snake; WHO 2019 100k deaths/yr neglected disease.