Biologically Active Substance
conotoxin
Subclass of:
Mollusk Venoms
Definitions related to conotoxins:
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Peptide neurotoxin from marine snails of genus Conus.CRISP ThesaurusNational Institutes of Health, 2006
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Peptide neurotoxins from the marine fish-hunting snails of the genus CONUS. They contain 13 to 29 amino acids which are strongly basic and are highly cross-linked by disulfide bonds. There are three types of conotoxins, omega-, alpha-, and mu-. OMEGA-CONOTOXINS inhibit voltage-activated entry of calcium into the presynaptic membrane and therefore the release of ACETYLCHOLINE. Alpha-conotoxins inhibit the postsynaptic acetylcholine receptor. Mu-conotoxins prevent the generation of muscle action potentials. (From Concise Encyclopedia Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 3rd ed)NLM Medical Subject HeadingsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
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