Figure 1.

Integrating the discovery pipeline for toxin-based compounds targeting ion channels and receptors. Conotoxins, spider and scorpion toxins provide access to hundreds of thousands of distinct peptide-based compounds targeting ion channels. Current efforts in molecular cloning and venomics are focused on structural characterization of individual components of the venoms. Phylogeny-based exogenomics strategy facilitates mining megadiverse groups of the toxins. Advances in the chemical synthesis and the oxidative folding provide faster access to hundreds of potential lead compounds. New approaches also accelerate lead optimization and improvement of pharmaceutical and pharmacological properties of future investigational new drug (IND) candidates.