Therapeutic potential of viral vectors that express venom peptides for neurological diseases

Abstract

The venoms of arachnids, cone snails, and snakes consist of many peptides that have varieties of physiological activities, e.g., modulation of ion channels. We have recently prepared lentiviral vectors that express spider venom peptides and successfully observed their expression and secretion by the transduced cells. We expect that this expression method can be applied to neurological diseases. Because most neurological and psychiatric symptoms are caused by the dysregulations of neuronal activities and/or synaptic transmission, a single injection of a viral vector that expresses venom peptides would compensate for the dysregulations and thereby exert a therapeutic effect. Here, we discuss the details of application methods, and how and what venom peptide would exert therapeutic potential for a given disorder, e.g., chronic pain, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. We also discuss the potential obstacles, i.e., lack of genetic information, side effects, and immune response, and methods to circumvent them.