Progress in research of the spider toxin’s biological activity / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

There are a wide variety of spiders on the earth and most them can secrete venom,which contains a variety of chemi-cal compositions that have multiple influences on organism be-sides toxic effects.The pharmacological efficiency includes cardi-ovascular and cerebrovascular activities,analgesic activities,an-tibacterial and anticancer activities etc.Ion channels are one of the important targets of spider toxins.They act on different ion channels,such as potassium channel,calcium channel and differ-ent subtypes of sodium channels.Therefore the spider toxins pres-ent different pharmacological activities and potential medicinal value.The venoms of spiders are less well studied than those from other venomous taxa such as conotoxin,scorpions and snakes etc. However,in recent years,spider toxins are turning to a new hot subject in related research areas.This review summarizes the lat-est progress in biological activities of spider toxins as well as its application in medical practice and development.