CSTX

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CSTX (for "Cupiennius salei toxins") is a name given to a group of closely related neurotoxic peptides present in the venom of the wandering spider Cupiennius salei. There are twenty types so far described for this protein group. However, some are reclassified into cupiennins group of toxin, including CSTX-3, -4, -5, and -6, because of their chemical affinity. The first thirteen were isolated and identified in 1994 by Lucia Kuhn-Nentwig, Johann Schaller, and Wolfgang Nentwig of the Zoological Institute at the University of Bern, Switzerland.[1] The different types are most likely the products of splicing variant of the same gene. They are all L-type calcium channel blockers, and also exhibit cytolytic activity by forming an alpha-helix across the cell membrane in mammalian neurons. They also inhibit voltage-gated calcium channels in insect neurons.[2]

The best understood members of the neurotoxin group of CSTX are:

Name Recommended name Size in Da Amino acid residue Toxicity (LD50) on Drosophilla
CSTX-1Omega-ctenitoxin-Cs1a8,352740.35 pmol/mg
CSTX-8Toxin CSTX-87,37863
CSTX-9U1-ctenitoxin-Cs1a7,5296810.6 pmol/mg
CSTX-10Toxin CSTX-108,11069
CSTX-11Toxin CSTX-118,08369
CSTX-12Toxin CSTX-127,31263
CSTX-13U2-ctenitoxin-Cs1a7,3596316.3 nmol/g
CSTX-14Toxin CSTX-145,65748
CSTX-15Toxin CSTX-155,61248
CSTX-16Toxin CSTX-164,74838
CSTX-17Toxin CSTX-174,41014
CSTX-18Toxin CSTX-185,61151
CSTX-19Toxin CSTX-193,74835
CSTX-20Toxin CSTX-209,91886

CSTX-1

References

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