Soricidin is a

paralytic Paralysis (also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, roughly 1 in 50 ...

oligopeptide An oligopeptide, often just called peptide ('' oligo-'', "a few"), consists of two to twenty amino acids and can include dipeptides, tripeptides, tetrapeptides, and pentapeptides. Some of the major classes of naturally occurring oligopeptides in ...

found in the

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...

ous saliva of the

northern short-tailed shrew The northern short-tailed shrew (''Blarina brevicauda'') is the largest shrew in the genus ''Blarina'', and occurs in the northeastern region of North America. It is a semifossorial, highly active, and voracious insectivore and is present in a v ...

(''Blarina brevicauda'');Soricidin - Blarina brevicauda (Northern short-tailed shrew)
at

UniProt UniProt is a freely accessible database of protein sequence and functional information, many entries being derived from genome sequencing projects. It contains a large amount of information about the biological function of proteins derived from ...

; version 15; published October 31, 2012; retrieved December 13, 2013 in the wild, shrews use it to paralyze their

prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

(typically

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s). Its name is a reference to "Soricidae", the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

to which shrews belong.The Stunning Saliva Of Shrews: Researchers are trying to unravel the mystery of the shrew's venomous brew
by Rachel Sheremeta Pepling; in ''

Chemical & Engineering News ''Chemical & Engineering News'' (''C&EN'') is a weekly news magazine published by the American Chemical Society, providing professional and technical news and analysis in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering.nerve impulse An action potential occurs when the membrane potential of a specific cell location rapidly rises and falls. This depolarization then causes adjacent locations to similarly depolarize. Action potentials occur in several types of animal cells, ...

s by inhibiting

sodium channel Sodium channels are integral membrane proteins that form ion channels, conducting sodium ions (Na+) through a cell's membrane. They belong to the superfamily of cation channels and can be classified according to the trigger that opens the chann ...

s, soricidin also inhibits the

TRPV6 TRPV6 is a membrane calcium (Ca2+) channel protein which is particularly involved in the first step in Ca2+absorption in the intestine. Classification Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid subfamily member 6 (TRPV6) is an epithelial Ca2+ cha ...

calcium channel, which is over-expressed in many epithelial-cell cancers; as a result, soricidin is able to selectively induce apoptosis in

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and sec ...

ovarian The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body ...

, and prostate cancer. It is 54 amino acids long. It was first extracted and identified in 2000, as a result of

basic research Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied rese ...

by Jack Stewart of Mount Allison University.Open up and say 'aah'
by Tom Henheffer; at ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

''; published July 1, 2010; retrieved December 13, 2013

References

{{reflist Vertebrate toxins Ion channel toxins Peptides Shrews