ω-Conotoxin GVIA is a peptide originally isolated from the marine mollusk C. geographus that acts as an N-type calcium channel blocker.1,2 It binds to human neocortical, rat hippocampal, and chick brain synaptic plasma membranes (IC50s = 4.6, 60, and 150 pM, respectively, in radioligand binding assays).3,4,5 ω-Conotoxin GVIA inhibits norepinephrine (Item No. 16673) and acetylcholine (Item No. 23829) release from human neocortical slices (IC50s = 14 and 3 nM, respectively) and calcium influx into chick synaptosomes by 92% when used at a concentration of 0.1 μM.3,4 It blocks electrically-evoked twitch responses of rat vas deferens and guinea pig ileum (IC50s = 9.8 and 55 nM, respectively) but does not affect the postjunctional contractile responses induced by norepinephrine on vas deferens or by carbamoylcholine (carbachol; Item No. 14486) on ileum.6 ω-Conotoxin GVIA does not affect potassium-induced contraction of rat aorta at concentrations up to 1 μM.WARNING This product is not for human or veterinary use.
