Nomenclature:
activity descriptors for naming peptide toxins
This page enumerates the Greek symbols listed/proposed in the 2 main studies on toxin nomenclature (King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012) as well as other suggestions (see ref. in last column). These symbols designate the molecular targets or biological activities of the toxins.
To retrieve toxins with these activities, see pharmacological target of venom proteins
Note that & and # show channels for which several different descriptors have been assigned due to the different modes of action of toxins.
| Back to Nomenclature | |
| Back to Pharmacological target of venom proteins |
| Channel/receptor | Descriptor | Biological function associated with descriptor | Reference |
| Ion channel (voltage-gated and ligand-gated) |
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| Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channel & | β (beta) | Shifts voltage-dependence of Nav channel activation | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channel & | δ (delta) | Delays inactivation of voltage-activated Nav channels | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channel & | ι (iota) | Nav channel agonist | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channel & | μ (mu) | Inhibits voltage-activated sodium (Nav) channels | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channel | κ (kappa) | Inhibits voltage-activated potassium (Kv) channels | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Calcium-activated potassium (KCa) channel | λ (lambda) | Inhibits calcium-activated potassium (KCa) channels | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Inward-rectifier potassium (KIR) channel | η (eta) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) # | α (alpha) | Targets acetylcholine receptor | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) # | ψ (psi) | Noncompetitive antagonist of acetylcholine receptor | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Voltage-gated calcium (Cav) channel | ω (omega) | Inhibits voltage-gated calcium (Cav) channels | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Ryanodine-sensitive calcium-release (RyR) channel | φ (phi) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| P2X receptor (P2RX) | Ο (OMICRON) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Voltage-gated chloride (ClC) channel | ε (epsilon) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| CFTR channel | Σ (SIGMA) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Ionotropic GABA receptor | Λ (LAMBDA) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Ionotropic glutamate receptor | Γ (GAMMA) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| HCNa nonspecific cation channel | γ (gamma) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Cyclic nucleotide-gated channel (CNG) | ζ (zeta) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Transient receptor potential (TRP) channel | τ (tau) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Acid-sensing ion (ASICs) channel (ACCN) | π (pi) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| 5-HT receptor | σ (sigma) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| receptor 7TM / G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) | |||
| Adipokinetic hormone/corazonin-related peptide (ACP) receptor | Z | ||
| Adrenergic receptor | ρ (rho) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Angiotensin II receptor | A | Van Baelen et al., 2023 | |
| Bradykinin receptor | |||
| Cholecystokinin receptor | |||
| Endothelin receptor | ξ (xi) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Dopamine receptor | |||
| Glucagon-like peptide receptor | |||
| Melanocortin receptor | Ν (NU) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor | |||
| Neurotensin receptor | ν (nu) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Opioid receptor | |||
| Somatostatin receptor | |||
| Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide receptor | |||
| Vasopressin/oxytocin receptor | υ (upsilon) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| receptor 1TM | |||
| Vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) | |||
| Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) | Ω (OMEGA) | Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Transporter | |||
| Noradrenaline transporter | χ (chi) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Glutamate transporter | |||
| Other activity | |||
| Phospholipase A2 activity | A2 | ||
| Cytolytic activity | Δ (DELTA) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Activity on insect hemocytes | H | ||
| Antimicrobial activity / Membrane perturbation activity | M | ||
| Protease inhibition | PI | ||
| Unknown activity | U | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 | |
| Activity for which no toxin has been discovered yet | Two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channel (KCNK) | θ (theta) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |
| Octopamine receptor | ο (omicron) | King et al., 2008, Oliveira et al., 2012 |