oa Editorial from Guest Editor [Hot Topic:Animal Venoms: From Deadly Arsenals (Toxins) to Therapeutic Drug Candidates (Guest Editor: Jean-Marc Sabatier)]

The venoms from a variety of animal species (e.g. scorpions, snakes, spiders, sea anemones, marine cone snails, insects and worms) are rich sources of polypeptide toxins that often target -with high potency and variable specificity- different classes of ion channels. In recent years, a number of research teams have focused their efforts on studying the immunological responses to animal toxins. Apart from the vaccination viewpoint, the potential value of toxins (and related compounds) as immunomodulators and chemotherapeutic drugs to treat autoimmune diseases has been investigated, especially for some particular scorpion and sea anemone peptides acting on voltage-gated K+ channels (Kv1.3 channels), and intermediate conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels (KCa3.1/IKCa1 channels). Indeed, T-cell lymphocytes reportedly express at their surface the Kv1.3 (and KCa3.1/IKCa1) channels that are required for antigen-induced cell activation; the same crucial role being also described for activation of B-cell lymphocytes that produce autoreactive antibodies. Therefore, such blockers -which have demonstrated their efficacies in vitro and/or in vivo (animal models)- might be good candidates in the treatment of either chronic graft rejection or other specific human diseases such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory myopathy, Crown and Hashimoto diseases, scleroderma, psoriasis, vitiligo, uveitis, erythemateous lupus, to cite a few. This special issue of ‘Inflammation & Allergy - Drug Targets’ deals not only with the functional aspects of animal toxins, but also with associated immune reactivity in the host, as well as the possibility to use venom molecules or derivatives in chemotherapeutic and prophylactic approaches. The eleven review articles have been written by the most distinguished toxinologists or immunologists, all of which have made major contributions in their respective areas of toxin research. The issue, which helps to better apprehend the complexity and potential of these compounds, finally covers the latest state of knowledge on (i) the pharmacology and immune properties of animal toxins, (ii) the effects of toxins related to immune reactions and cascades in the host, (iii) the toxins and derivatives as candidate chemotherapeutic drugs, (iv) the prophylactic approaches to animal venoms and toxins (candidate vaccines), (v) the prospects on management of immunity towards toxins, and (vi) the toxins as immunomodulators, from leads to effective drugs.