Abstract:Pain is still a popular biomedical problem involving plenty of ion channels， receptors and signal systems. So far， our understanding of pain induction and therapy is delayed by lack of specific drugs for pain-related ion channels. Scorpion venom is composed of diverse peptides for preying and defending. Generally， long-chain α-like toxins induce pain by activating peak currents and delaying inactivation of sodium channels. On the contrary， long-chain β-like toxins always show anti-pain effects. Furthermore， short-chain toxins binding to potassium， chloride and calcium channels demonstrate complex activities. Many reports indicated that target-specific scorpion toxins would be the available molecular tools for elucidating pain mechanism and for developing novel analgesic drugs. The paper reviews these molecular， cellular and behavioral evidence， and thus attempts to further our understanding to the scientific and medicinal potential of scorpion toxins.