Long History of Snake Toxins: The 60th Anniversary of the α-Bungarotoxin Discovery
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Toxicology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2024) | Viewed by 1472
Special Issue Editor
Interests: snake venoms; toxins; new proteins; isolation; properties; nicotinic acetylcholine receptor
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
In 1963, Chang and Lee published their paper that described the isolation of several neurotoxins from the venom of the multi-banded krait Bungarus multicinctus. This paper is one of the most cited papers in the field of toxinology. Among the isolated toxins was α-bungarotoxin. This toxin laid the foundation for the discovery of an entire family of proteins, which is now called the Ly6/uPAR family. α Bungarotoxin was used for the characterization of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, which is one of the most well studied neuroreceptors in the field. This toxin is still widely used as a marker of some types of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. This year not only commemorates the 60th anniversary of the α-bungartoxin discovery, but it is also the 50th anniversary of the research on animal toxins at the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry Russian Academy of Sciences. The first paper that described the amino acid sequence of neurotoxins from cobra venom determined at than Shemyakin Institute of Chemistry of Natural Products USSR Academy of Sciences was published in 1973. A variety of works devoted to various aspects of the study of toxins have been published by the Institute. Research on animal toxins continues to be successfully carried out at the Institute to this day. This Special Issue will focus on different facets, including historical facets, in the study of animal toxins. Original research papers and comprehensive reviews that report discoveries, structure elucidation and biological activity studies of animal toxins are welcome. Historical essays in toxinology will also be considered.
Prof. Dr. Yuri N. Utkin
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- animal venoms
- toxins
- discovery
- structure
- biological activity
