Simulation Studies and Dynamic Interaction of Venom Peptides with Ion Channels

Arthropods such as scorpion, snake, insects, and spider as well as the marine animals like sea anemone and cone snails are venomous animals producing venoms with a complex mixture of peptide, poly peptides and small proteins. The disulfide rich peptides isolated from these animals are potent substances which specifically and selectively modulate different ion channels. The significant characteristics of these distinctive pharmacologically potent compounds highlights the molecular details of their peptide-ion channels interactions as well as provides the opportunities for the development of novel and natural therapeutic agents to treat various diseases including neurological disorders also. A good deal is going into the understanding of their therapeutic applications by unrevealing their mode of action.

In this review, an attempt is made to summarizes the molecular behavior of these venom peptides, their pattern of interactions that how molecular simulation studies are used to investigate the dynamic interaction between these peptides and ion channels, structural prediction of peptide channel complex and calculation of binding free energy.