Novel conotoxins that target ion channels and receptors

Abstract:: Our goal is to dramatically enhance the discovery of conotoxins through novel synthesis, transcriptomics and proteomics, improve conotoxin potency and selectivity and develop conotoxin mimetics capable of pharmaceutical drug development. Our recent breakthrough new chemistry will be employed to accelerate conotoxin synthesis and improve their biophysical properties. This will increase our knowledge base and contribute to high value biotechnology industries in Australia. The major outcomes include a vast expansion of novel conotoxin sequences and synthetic conopeptides, new chemical approaches to control conotoxin folding, parallel ligation chemistry to enhance production and new lead molecules for pharmaceutical development.
Grant type:: ARC Discovery Projects
Funded by:: Australian Research Council

The University of Queensland