AUTHOR=Tsetlin Victor , Haufe Yves , Safronova Valentina , Serov Dmitriy , Shadamarshan PranavKumar , Son Lina , Shelukhina Irina , Kudryavtsev Denis , Kryukova Elena , Kasheverov Igor , Nicke Annette , Utkin Yuri TITLE=Interaction of α9α10 Nicotinic Receptors With Peptides and Proteins From Animal Venoms JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience VOLUME=15 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fncel.2021.765541 DOI=10.3389/fncel.2021.765541 ISSN=1662-5102 ABSTRACT=
Unlike most neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subunits, α7, α9, and α10 subunits are able to form functional homo- or heteromeric receptors without any β subunits. While the α7 subtype is widely distributed in the mammalian brain and several peripheral tissues, α9 and α9α10 nAChRs are mainly found in the cochlea and immune cells. α-Conotoxins that specifically block the α9α10 receptor showed anti-nociceptive and anti-hyperalgesic effects in animal models. Hence, this subtype is considered a drug target for analgesics. In contrast to the α9α10-selective α-conotoxins, the three-finger toxin α-bungarotoxin inhibits muscle-type and α7 nAChRs in addition to α9α10 nAChRs. However, the selectivity of α-neurotoxins at the α9α10 subtype was less intensively investigated. Here, we compared the potencies of α-conotoxins and α-neurotoxins at the human α9α10 nAChR by two-electrode voltage clamp analysis upon expression in