Scorpin
| Scorpin ( Pandinus imperator ) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mass / length primary structure | 75 amino acids | |
| Precursor | (94 aa) | |
| Identifier | ||
| External IDs | ||
Scorpin is the name for one or both toxins of the emperor scorpion ( Pandinus imperator ), which is native to the tropical forests of West Africa .
Effects
The scorpion poison Scorpin is hardly dangerous for humans. It is a peptide , which in interaction with the electrolyte , the blood coagulation inhibiting. It also affects the activity of plasmodia and has a bacteriostatic effect .
Importance for research
A research team led by Lourival Possani at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Cuernavaca discovered in experiments with fruit flies in 2000 that this toxin can suppress the development of the malaria pathogen in the host . They noted that an inhibitory effect on in culture growing malaria parasite has. As a result, the researchers developed genetically modified (transgenic) fruit flies, which produce the poison in their intestines through additional genetic information inserted into their genome . They later injected the malaria pathogens directly into the abdomen of these genetically modified animals as well as their unchanged conspecifics and then determined how many of the parasites could develop in the fruit flies. These studies showed that on the one hand over 40 percent of the wild-type flies had mature malaria pathogens after the treatment, while on the other hand the parasites were able to develop further in only twelve percent of the genetically modified animals.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Timoteo Olamendi-Portugal, Froylan Gómez-Lagunas, Georgina B Gurrola, Lourival D Possani: Two similar peptides from the venom of the scorpion Pandinus imperator, one highly effective blocker and the other inactive on K + channels. In: Toxicon 36, No. 5, 1998, pp. 759-770, doi : 10.1016 / S0041-0101 (97) 00163-3 .
- ↑ Guang-Ming Xu, Yue Luo, Tian-Xiang Lei: Effect of inorganic ions on anticoagulating action of scorpin. In: Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine University of Hunan 3, 2007, p. 009.
- ↑ a b Renaud Conde, Fernando Z. Zamudio, Mario H. Rodrı́guez, Lourival D. Possani: Scorpine, an anti-malaria and anti-bacterial agent purified from scorpion venom. In: FEBS Lett . 471, No. 2, 2000, pp. 165-168, doi : 10.1016 / S0014-5793 (00) 01384-3 .