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AssigneeUniversidade Federal de Minas Gerais
InventorsMarcus Vinicius Gomes, Marco Antônio Máximo Prado, Vânia Ferrelra Prado
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Methods and compositions for blocking calcium channels with a spider toxin from Phoneutria nigriventer are provided. For easy identification the toxin will be sometimes generally referred to as Phα-1B herein. The toxin comprises a 55-amino acid sequence having a molecular weight of approximately 6,017. This Phα-1B spider toxin was found to block calcium channels within the nervous system. The synthetic gene responsible for producing this toxin has been designed and cloned. This gene and/or its derivative provide a mechanism by which the toxin can be produced using recombinant DNA expression technologies. The present invention further relates to methods of treating neurological diseases and pain by applying the isolated and identified toxins. The toxin Phα-1B may provide beneficial effects on pain and certain neurological conditions including seizures, ischemic-hypoxic, CNS damage, and neurodegenerative disorders. It was also found that the toxins are effective as tags in probing calcium channels.
A substantially pure peptide functioning as a calcium channel blocker having more affinity for N-type calcium channel and comprising the following amino acid sequence, and acceptable salts thereof.
Use of the spider toxins in the treatment or prevention of the pain, in recovery from nerve injury, treatment of neurological conditions such as stroke and cardiac arrhythmias.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.