Conotoxinas

Conotoxins. The Conus snails are probably the largest genus of marine invertebrates with regard to living species, as a result of their evolutionary success. This success is mainly due to the sophisticated mechanism of prey capture, based on a highly specilized radula, with a hollow, harpoon shaped teeth connected to a venom apparatus, and the production of complex poisons containing a great diversity of toxins. The main group is composed by the conotoxins, which are very small, cysteinerich, rigid peptides, synthesized by a complex mechanism that permits their rich variability. They are characterized by their enormous specificity, since they block very well-defined receptors of muscular or nervous cells of their prey, thus allowing a rapid paralysis