Tag: "scorpion" at biology news

Tarantula venom and chili peppers target same pain sensor

...The researchers examined venoms from 22 spider and scorpion species whose bites are known to cause pain. Venom from the tarantula Psalmopoeus cambridgei activated the capsaicin receptor, also called TRPV1, and the researchers identified three protein subunits or peptides in the venom that targeted the recepto...

Radioactive scorpion venom for fighting cancer

...h uses a radioactive version of a protein found in scorpion venom. For many, this will conjure images of Spid...or brain cancer. The venom of the yellow Israeli scorpion preferentially attaches to the cells of a type of essentially incurable brain cancers known as gliom...

Unraveling the mysteries of poison

...ed at the example of poison from the north African scorpion Androctonus mauretanicus mauretanicus, to determine how bacterial potassium channels interact with toxins at an atomic level. The researchers first examined the electrophysiological characteristics of the "poisoned" channel protein. The scientists ...

Drugs from the deep blue

...ors and other biomolecules derived from plants and scorpion venom. But when Pessah and Molinski got to talking at a party some years ago, they quickly realized that they could apply the same methods to screen 124 sponges that Molinski's group had recently collected off the coast of Western Australia. In one ...

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