Labelled animal toxins as selective molecular markers of ion channels: Applications in neurobiology and beyond

Animal toxins are traditional and indispensible molecular tools that find application in different fields of biochemistry, neurobiology and pharmacology. These compounds possess several outstanding properties such as high affinity and selectivity with respect to particular molecular targets, most importantly ion channels and neuroreceptors, and stability. In addition to using toxins per se, a wide variety of labelled modifications have been obtained including radioactive and fluorescent derivatives. Here, we discuss the major types of labelled toxins, methods of their production and principal possibilities of application ranging from receptor localization and visualization to development of screening systems and diagnostic tools, and drug discovery.