0000000000217226
AUTHOR
Jan Tytgat
Modulation of voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels by pumiliotoxin 251D: A “joint venture” alkaloid from arthropods and amphibians
Abstract Certain amphibians provide themselves with a chemical defense by accumulating lipophilic alkaloids into skin glands from dietary arthropods. Examples of such alkaloids are pumiliotoxins (PTXs). In general, PTXs are known as positive modulators of voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs). Unlike other PTXs, PTX 251D does not share this characteristic. However, mice and insect studies showed that PTX 251D is highly toxic and to date the basis of its toxicity remains unknown. In this work, we searched for the possible target of PTX 251D . The toxin was therefore made synthetically and tested on four VGSCs (mammalian rNa v 1.2/β 1 , rNa v 1.4/β 1 , hNa v 1.5/β 1 and insect Para/tipE ) and…
Antiprotozoan lead discovery by aligning dry and wet screening: Prediction, synthesis, and biological assay of novel quinoxalinones
Protozoan parasites have been one of the most significant public health problems for centuries and several human infections caused by them have massive global impact. Most of the current drugs used to treat these illnesses have been used for decades and have many limitations such as the emergence of drug resistance, severe side-effects, low-to-medium drug efficacy, administration routes, cost, etc. These drugs have been largely neglected as models for drug development because they are majorly used in countries with limited resources and as a consequence with scarce marketing possibilities. Nowadays, there is a pressing need to identify and develop new drug-based antiprotozoan therapies. In …