Perfused rat liver responses to crude venoms from marine snails.

Abstract

The venoms of the marine snail (Conus regius) contain an astonishing array of peptide toxins. The toxic activities present in any particular species has been shown to be associated with prey category (piscivore, molluscivore or vermivore). The range of activities present in the crude venoms of a number of species has been described by Endean’s group. The activities of peptide toxins purified from a small number of piscivores and molluscivores have been described by Olivera’s group after testing in laboratory animals such as mice and isolated tissue preparations. The conotoxins that have aroused most interest are compounds which block specific channels involved in nerve or neuromuscular transmission. There are a number of other sites within other tissues which are potential targets for venom components, for example channels located in the vascalature of all organs and peripheral tissues Toxin action on such channels is more difficult to assay than in the case of the neural and neuromuscular channels in mammals, but may be important sites of action in the natural prey and predators of this highly successful species. For a toxin to act most effectively its components should be rapidly distributed to all targets within the the recipient.This is particularly true in the case of slow-moving predators such as marine snails, many of which are particularly challenged in terms of mobility relative to their prey. We describe here the effect of a crude venom preparation upon various parameters of perfused rat liver.