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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday November 19 2016, @07:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the write-up-your-enemies-list dept.

The poison dart frog has been known to scientists (and locals who have used its skin chemicals as a poison applied to the tips of blow-darts, which led to the name of the frog) for many years and several researchers have attempted to synthesize the batrachotoxin molecule in the toxin responsible for causing heart attacks in its victims. Until now, all have failed, and the task has been complicated in recent years due to the diminishing numbers of the frogs in their native northern Colombian rain forests. In this new effort, the researchers used data from other studies to understand the makeup of the molecules, then used what they found to create an artificial version. The team says the process involved 24 steps and also led to the synthesis of the toxin's chemical mirror image.

The toxin causes problems for victims by forcing sodium ion channels to remain open. When this occurs in heart muscle, the inflow of sodium causes constriction. But because the channels are stuck open, it cannot be released., and the result is cardiac arrest. The toxin also causes problems in other body parts such as the nervous system. Interestingly, after testing, the researchers found that the mirror image molecule was also deadly, but for the opposite reason—it forced sodium ion channels to remain closed, preventing the outflow of sodium necessary for relaxation.

The newly synthesized molecule has a variety of possible applications. Because the effort also resulted in a chiral twin, the work is expected to help researchers better understand the way ion channels function in general. And now that the molecule can be synthesized in a lab, it will be readily available to anyone wishing to study how it works—perhaps even those wishing to create a bio-weapon. And finally, it could play a role in medical science due to its unique impact on sodium ion channels—by serving as a prototype for creating local anesthetics.

Good news! You can break out your blowguns again.


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  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Sunday November 20 2016, @07:37PM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Sunday November 20 2016, @07:37PM (#430027) Journal

    Not good form to respond to your own comment, but I had to know.

    Many poison dart frogs secrete lipophilic alkaloid toxins such as allopumiliotoxin 267A, batrachotoxin, epibatidine, histrionicotoxin, and pumiliotoxin 251D through their skin. Alkaloids in the skin glands of poison frogs serve as a chemical defense against predation, and they are therefore able to be active alongside potential predators during the day. About 28 structural classes of alkaloids are known in poison frogs.[5][24]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_dart_frog

    .
    Since the FA discusses batrachotoxin, it must the the Golden Poison Dart frog, Phyllobates terribilis:

    The golden poison frog's skin is densely coated in an alkaloid toxin, one of a number of poisons common to dart frogs (batrachotoxins). This poison prevents its victim's nerves from transmitting impulses, leaving the muscles in an inactive state of contraction. This can lead to heart failure or fibrillation. Alkaloid batrachotoxins can be stored by frogs for years after the frog is deprived of a food-based source, and such toxins do not readily deteriorate, even when transferred to another surface.[6][7]

    . . .

    The average dose carried will vary between locations, and consequent local diet, but the average wild P. terribilis is generally estimated to contain about one milligram of poison, enough to kill about 10,000 mice. This estimate will vary in turn, but most agree this dose is enough to kill between 10 and 20 humans, which correlates to up to two African bull elephants.[8] This is roughly 15,000 humans per gram.

    This extraordinarily lethal poison is very rare. Batrachotoxin is only found[9] in three poisonous frogs from Colombia (genus Phyllobates) and three poisonous birds from Papua New Guinea: Pitohui dichrous, Pitohui kirhocephalus, and Ifrita kowaldi. Other related toxins, histrionicotoxin and pumiliotoxin, are found in frog species from the genus Dendrobates.[10]

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllobates_terribilis

    Two Bull Elephants. Hmm.

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