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MeuKTX
MeuKTX (α-KTx 3.13), which belongs to the α-KTx toxin subfamily, is a neurotoxin present in the venom of ''Mesobuthus eupeus''. This short-chain peptide blocks potassium channels, such as Kv1.1, Kv1.2 and Kv1.3. __TOC__ Etymology and source MeuKTX is a neurotoxin found in the venom of the scorpion ''Mesobuthus eupeus'' which belongs to the family '' Buthidae''. The ''M. eupeus'' is commonly found in the semi-arid and arid areas of China. The neurotoxin's name is an acronym in which the first three letters refer to the source of the venom (''M. eupeus''; lesser Asian scorpion) and the last three to its nature as a potassium channel toxin. Chemistry Structure MeuKTX is a peptide chain of 37 amino acids forming three disulfide bridges, resulting in the molecular weight of 3987 Da. The amino acid sequence of MeuKTX is VGINVKCKHS GQCLKPCKDA GMRFGKCMNG KCDCTPK. Homology MeuKTX is an orthologue of BmKTX (α-KTx3.6) which is found in the closely related ''Mesobuthus martensii ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesobuthus Eupeus
''Mesobuthus eupeus'' is a polymorphic scorpion species belonging to the well-known family Buthidae. Commonly known as the lesser Asian scorpion or the mottled scorpion. It is thought to be the most widely dispersed species of the genus ''Mesobuthus'', perhaps even of the family Buthidae. Description ''M. eupeus'' can reach a size of in length. The entire body is yellow to yellowish brown. The dorsal segments ( tergites) of the mesosoma often have longitudinal irregular stripes that are black to dark brown. They exhibit sexual dimorphism, the adult females being generally larger than males but have a lower number of pectinal teeth (16 to 23, as opposed to 22 to 28 in males). The pedipalps of ''M. eupeus'' have a maximum of ten diagonal rows of granules on the fixed finger and eleven on the movable finger. The pedipalp chelae (pincers) are wider than the patella (segment IV). The segments of the metasoma are thick and have eight keels (octocarinate). The telson is subglobose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Potassium Channels
Potassium channels are the most widely distributed type of ion channel found in virtually all organisms. They form potassium-selective pores that span cell membranes. Potassium channels are found in most cell types and control a wide variety of cell functions. Function Potassium channels function to conduct potassium ions down their electrochemical gradient, doing so both rapidly (up to the diffusion rate of K+ ions in bulk water) and selectively (excluding, most notably, sodium despite the sub-angstrom difference in ionic radius). Biologically, these channels act to set or reset the resting potential in many cells. In excitable cells, such as neurons, the delayed counterflow of potassium ions shapes the action potential. By contributing to the regulation of the cardiac action potential duration in cardiac muscle, malfunction of potassium channels may cause life-threatening arrhythmias. Potassium channels may also be involved in maintaining vascular tone. They also regulate ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KCNA2
Potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily A member 2 also known as Kv1.2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''KCNA2'' gene. Function Potassium channels represent the most complex class of voltage-gated ion channels from both functional and structural standpoints. Their diverse functions include regulating neurotransmitter release, heart rate, insulin secretion, neuronal excitability, epithelial electrolyte transport, smooth muscle contraction, and cell volume. Four sequence-related potassium channel genes - shaker, shaw, shab, and shal - have been identified in Drosophila, and each has been shown to have human homolog(s). This gene encodes a member of the potassium channel, voltage-gated, shaker-related subfamily. This member contains six membrane-spanning domains with a shaker-type repeat in the fourth segment. It belongs to the delayed rectifier class, members of which allow nerve cells to efficiently repolarize following an action potential. The coding region of thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KCNA3
Potassium voltage-gated channel, shaker-related subfamily, member 3, also known as KCNA3 or Kv1.3, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''KCNA3'' gene. Potassium channels represent the most complex class of voltage-gated ion channels from both functional and structural standpoints. Their diverse functions include regulating neurotransmitter release, heart rate, insulin secretion, neuronal excitability, epithelial electrolyte transport, smooth muscle contraction, and cell volume. Four sequence-related potassium channel genes – shaker, shaw, shab, and shal – have been identified in Drosophila, and each has been shown to have human homolog(s). This gene encodes a member of the potassium channel, voltage-gated, shaker-related subfamily. This member contains six membrane-spanning domains with a shaker-type repeat in the fourth segment. It belongs to the delayed rectifier class, members of which allow nerve cells to efficiently repolarize following an action potential. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neurotoxin
Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insultsSpencer 2000 that can adversely affect function in both developing and mature nervous tissue.Olney 2002 The term can also be used to classify endogenous compounds, which, when abnormally contacted, can prove neurologically toxic. Though neurotoxins are often neurologically destructive, their ability to specifically target neural components is important in the study of nervous systems. Common examples of neurotoxins include lead, ethanol (drinking alcohol), glutamate,Choi 1987 nitric oxide, botulinum toxin (e.g. Botox), tetanus toxin,Simpson 1986 and tetrodotoxin. Some substances such as nitric oxide and glutamate are in fact essential for proper function of the body and only exert neurotoxic effects at excessive concentrations. Neurotoxins inhibit neuron control over ion concentrations across the cell membrane, or com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buthidae
The Buthidae are the largest family of scorpions, containing about 100 genera and 1339 species as of 2022. A few very large genera (''Ananteris'', ''Centruroides'', '' Compsobuthus'', or '' Tityus'') are known, but a high number of species-poor or monotypic ones also exist. New taxa are being described at a rate of several new species per year. They have a osmopolitandistribution throughout tropical and subtropical environments worldwide. Together with four other families, the Buthidae make up the superfamily Buthoidea. The family was established by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1837. Around 20 species of medically important (meaning potentially lethal to humans) scorpions are known, and all but one of these ('' Hemiscorpius lepturus'') are members of the Buthidae. In dead specimens, the spine beneath the stinger, characteristic for this family, can be observed. List of genera and number of species The following genera are recognised in the family Buthidae: * '' Aegaeobuthus'' Kovarik, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digital Object Identifier
A digital object identifier (DOI) is a persistent identifier or handle used to uniquely identify various objects, standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). DOIs are an implementation of the Handle System; they also fit within the URI system ( Uniform Resource Identifier). They are widely used to identify academic, professional, and government information, such as journal articles, research reports, data sets, and official publications. DOIs have also been used to identify other types of information resources, such as commercial videos. A DOI aims to resolve to its target, the information object to which the DOI refers. This is achieved by binding the DOI to metadata about the object, such as a URL where the object is located. Thus, by being actionable and interoperable, a DOI differs from ISBNs or ISRCs which are identifiers only. The DOI system uses the indecs Content Model for representing metadata. The DOI for a document remains fixed over t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orthologue
Sequence homology is the biological homology between DNA, RNA, or protein sequences, defined in terms of shared ancestry in the evolutionary history of life. Two segments of DNA can have shared ancestry because of three phenomena: either a speciation event (orthologs), or a duplication event (paralogs), or else a horizontal (or lateral) gene transfer event (xenologs). Homology among DNA, RNA, or proteins is typically inferred from their nucleotide or amino acid sequence similarity. Significant similarity is strong evidence that two sequences are related by evolutionary changes from a common ancestral sequence. Alignments of multiple sequences are used to indicate which regions of each sequence are homologous. Identity, similarity, and conservation The term "percent homology" is often used to mean "sequence similarity”, that is the percentage of identical residues (''percent identity''), or the percentage of residues conserved with similar physicochemical properties (' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BmKTX
BmKTX (alpha-KTx 3.6) is a scorpion neurotoxin which blocks the voltage gated potassium channel Kv1.3. Etymology and source The name BmK part of the toxin is derived from the name of the scorpion, ''Buthus martensi'' (Karsch). KTX also stands for the Kaliotoxin family, which this toxin is a part of. BmKTX is one of the toxins present in the venom of scorpion, found in mostly Mongolia, Korea and China. Chemistry Homology BmKTX belongs to the α-KTX family, more specifically, the α-KTX subfamily 3, both in terms of primary and 3D structure. The venom of this scorpion has led to the discovery of 77 different peptides, mainly related to ion channel toxins. Out of these toxins there are 14 short chain toxins, composed of 30–40 amino acid residues, homologous to BmKTX. All these toxins, although being short peptides, are encoded by individual cDNAs, instead of originating from cleavage of a common precursor. Structure The toxin consists of multiple parts. The N- and C- te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesobuthus Martensii
''Olivierus martensii'' is a species of scorpion in the family Buthidae. Its common names include Chinese scorpion,''Mesobuthus martensii'' (Manchurian scorpion) (''Buthus martensii'') Taxonomy database Manchurian scorpion, Chinese armor-tail scorpion and Chinese golden scorpion. Despite its common name, this scorpion is not only found in or , but also in |
IC50
The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) is a measure of the potency of a substance in inhibiting a specific biological or biochemical function. IC50 is a quantitative measure that indicates how much of a particular inhibitory substance (e.g. drug) is needed to inhibit, ''in vitro'', a given biological process or biological component by 50%. The biological component could be an enzyme, cell, cell receptor or microorganism. IC50 values are typically expressed as molar concentration. IC50 is commonly used as a measure of antagonist drug potency in pharmacological research. IC50 is comparable to other measures of potency, such as EC50 for excitatory drugs. EC50 represents the dose or plasma concentration required for obtaining 50% of a maximum effect ''in vivo''. IC50 can be determined with functional assays or with competition binding assays. Sometimes, IC50 values are converted to the pIC50 scale. :\ce = -\log_ \ce Due to the minus sign, higher values of pIC50 indica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KCNA6
Potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily A member 6 also known as Kv1.6 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''KCNA6'' gene. The protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ... encoded by this gene is a voltage-gated potassium channel subunit. References Further reading * * * * * * External links * * Ion channels {{membrane-protein-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
