Study of the binding residues between ANEPII and insect sodium channel receptor

Animal-derived peptides from Traditional Chinese medicines: medicinal potential, mechanisms, and prospects

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Animal-derived traditional Chinese medicines have a long-standing history in Chinese medicine, which exhibit unique efficacy due to similar structure and function with human tissue. As the major types of constituents that accounted for a relatively high proportion of animal-derived TCMs, peptides with molecular weight between 100 Da and hundreds of thousands of kDa have caught wide attention due to their outstanding bioavailability and excellent specificity.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This review aims to comprehensively delve into the up-to-date research progress in their pharmacology, mechanism, sequence composition, and therapeutic application, laying a solid foundation for future clinical treatment and scientific research.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Relevant information on the peptides from animal-derived TCMs was collected from scientific literature databases including PubMed, CNKI, literature sources (Ph.D. and M.Sc. dissertations), and Web of Science by using the keywords "Peptides", "Animal", and "TCMs" for gradual screening in the past 30 years.

RESULTS

To date, the peptides from 27 kinds of animal-derived TCMs have been systematically combed. Their pharmacological activity and underlying mechanisms on multiple systems (nervous, circulatory, skeletal, and immune), as well as anti-tumor, antioxidative, and antimicrobial effects, have been sorted out. Besides, the potential safety issues and deficiencies (low bioavailability, imperfect quality management, and toxicity of raw materials) have also been pointed out.

CONCLUSIONS

Comprehensive analysis showed that low development and resource waste accompanied by the inadequate report about the pharmacological activity of most peptides from animal-derived TCMs make it have good research prospects. Although a breakthrough in the field of healthcare products has been made, the development potential for clinical products that bring surprising turnaround will be obtained if the above-mentioned confusions and current needs (improve identification technology and design reasonable dosage forms) are implemented.

Investigation of Binding Modes and Functional Surface of Scorpion Toxins ANEP to Sodium Channels 1.7

The depressant β toxin anti-neuroexcitation peptide (ANEP) from the Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch has analgesic activity by interacting with receptor site 4 of the voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs). Here, with molecular dynamics simulations, we examined the binding modes between ANEP and the site 4 of mice sodium channel 1.7 (mNa_v1.7), a subtype of VGSCs related to peripheral pain. Homology modeling, molecular mechanics, and molecular dynamics in the biomembrane environment were adopted. The results suggested that ANEP bound to the resting site 4 mainly by amino acid residues in the β2–β3 loop and the ‘NC’ domains, and the activate site 4 mainly by amino acid residues in the hydrophobic domain of N-groove and residues in the ‘pharmacophore’. Effects analysis of 14 mutants in the predicted functional domains of ANEP on mouse twisting models showed that the analgesic activity of mutants L15 and E24 of the ‘pharmacophore’, W36, T37, W38, and T39 forming the loop between the β2- and β3-strands and N8, V12, C60, and K64 in the NC domain increased distinctly after these residues were substituted for Ala, respectively. The binding modes and the active sites predicted were consistent with available mutagenesis data, and which is meaningful to understand the related mechanisms of ANEP for Na_v1.7.