芋螺毒素是来源于芋螺毒液的活性多肽,具有分子质量小,作用靶点广泛且特异性高的优点,是一种丰富的生物资源。M-超家族芋螺毒素是芋螺毒素中较为复杂的超家族之一,包括“μ-、ψ-和κM-家族,分别作用于电压门控钠通道、N型乙酰胆碱受体和电压门控钾通道。另外,mr3a和tx3c的发现预示M-超家族可能存在新的家族。本文对这些芋螺毒素的生理学和药理学特征、结构与功能的关系及应用研究进行综述。
Conotoxins are active peptides from the venoms of cone snails, with advantage of low molecular mass, diversity of targets and high specificity for different subtypes. M-superfamily is one of the most complex group among conotoxins. It can be divided into μ-、ψ- and κM-families, which target to voltage-gated sodium channels, nAChRs and voltage-gated potassium channels respectively. Novel excitatory peptides mr3a and tx3c may suggest a new family of M-supeffamily. This article reviews the characteristics of these conotoxins, including physiology, pharmacology, relationship between structure and function, and application perspective as well.