We examined effects of purotoxin 1 (PT1), a component of the venom of Geolycosa spiders, on a few voltageand ligand-operated ion channels present in the plasma membrane of sensory neurons from the rat dorsal root ganglia (DRGs). Purotoxin 1 in a 100 nM concentration evoked no changes in ion currents through voltage-operated sodium, potassium, and calcium channels in the membranes of isolated sensory neurons. This agent was also found to be ineffective with respect to capsaicin-sensitive receptor-channel complexes (TRPV1). Testing of the effects of PT1 on purinergic receptor-channel complexes P2X3, P2X2, and P2X2/3 showed that this toxin is a highly selective blocker of exclusively P2X3 receptors. The selectivity of action of PT1 demonstrated in our experiments shows that it is a unique agent, which opens up new prospects in the studies of structural/functional peculiarities of receptor-channel complexes P2X3 as a peripheral link of the nociception system.
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Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 466–470, November-December, 2010.
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Savchenko, G.A., Volkova, T.M., Vasilevskii, A.A. et al. Purinergic Membrane Receptors as Targets for the Effect of Purotoxin 1, a Component of Venom of Spiders from the Geolycosa Genus. Neurophysiology 42, 387–391 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11062-011-9173-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11062-011-9173-9