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NervousSystemLabReport
Thislabreportwilladdressanormalcellenvironmentwheretheactionpotentialoccursinthe
neurontriggerzonewhenthemembranepotential(electricalcharge)risesandfalls,theneutron
thensendselectricalimpulsedownanaxonawayfromthecellbodyanditwillalsoaddressthe
effectsoftoxinsontheactionpotentialfollowedbycranialnerveandreflextesting.Action
potentialalsoknownasanerveimpulsesistheeventsofelectricalresponsethattakesplacein
acell,causedwhendifferentionscrossestheneuronmembrane.Thefirsteventinanaction
potentialisdepolarizationwherethesodiumionschangefromanegativetoapositivelevelat
themembraneoftheneuron.Theeventafterdepolarizationknownasrepolarization,iswhen
thecellrepolarizesitselfbyusingitssodiumpotassiumpumplocatedinthemembrane,for
everythreesodiumionsitpumpsout,itpumpsintwopotassiumionsuntiltheproperchargeis
reached.Duringtherefractoryperiod,whichlastsaround1/2500ofasecond,theaxons
voltagegatedsodiumchannelsarenotresponsiveatall,andtheaxoncannotbestimulatedto
produceanotheractionpotential.Thefigurebelowrepresentsallinformationanddatacollected
byresearchingactionpotentialfurtherandlabsperformedwiththeinformationabove.
Figure1
Animal
Toxin
Effects
BlackWidowSpider
Maculotoxin
BlocksSodiumChannels
Krait
Latrotoxin
EnhancesAcetylcholineRelease
BlueRingedOctopus
Bungarotoxin
BlocksAcetylcholineReceptor
Scorpion
Tetrodotoxin
BlocksSodiumChannels
ConeSnail
Apamin
BlocksPotassiumChannels
Pufferfish
Charybdotoxin
BlocksPotassiumReceptors
Bee
Conotoxin
Onetypeblocksvoltagesensitivesodium
channelsoneblocksAChreceptors
MutantGene
Agenemutationisapermanentalterationin
theDNAsequencethatmakesupagene,such
thatthesequencediffersfromwhatisfound
inmostpeople.Mutationsrangeinsizethey
canaffectanywherefromasingleDNA
buildingblock(basepair)toalargesegment
ofachromosomethatincludesmultiple
genes.
SyntheticToxin
Atoxinisapoisonoussubstanceproduced
withinlivingcellsororganismssynthetic
toxicantscreatedbyartificialprocessesare
thusexcluded.
Batrachotoxin
Batrachotoxinisanextremelypotent
cardiotoxicandneurotoxicsteroidalalkaloid
foundincertainspeciesoffrogs,melyrid
beetles,andbirds.Batrachotoxinwasderived
fromtheGreekword"batrachos"meaning
"frog".
DendrotoxinKfromthevenom
Dendrotoxinsareagroupofproteinsfoundin
thevenomoftheblackmamba(
Dendroaspis
polylepispolylepis
)andtheeasterngreen
mamba(
Dendroaspisangusticeps
).They
belongtothebpti(bovinepancreatictrypsin
inhibitor)/kunitzfamilyofinhibitors.They
alsoaidinthereleaseofacetylcholinefrom
presynapticmembranesofcholinergic
synapses.DendrotoxinKinhibitstrypsin
slightly,butitfailstoinhibitchymotrypsinat
all.However,dendrotoxinKisaselective
blockerofvoltagegatedpotassiumchannels.
DendrotoxinKisa57aminoacidresidue
longproteinthatcontainsthreedisulfide
bonds:Cys5Cys55,Cys14Cys38,and
Cys30Cys51.
Generalanestheticlikesevoflurane
Sevofluranebelongstothegroupof
medicinesknownasgeneralanesthetics.
Sevofluraneisusedtocausegeneral
anesthesia(lossofconsciousness)beforeand
duringsurgery.Itisinhaled(breathedin).
Althoughsevofluranecanbeusedbyitself,
combinationsofanestheticsareoftenused
together.Thishelpsproducemoreeffective
anesthesiainsomepatients.
potassium
Potassiumisachemicalelementwithsymbol
Kandatomicnumber19.Itwasfirstisolated
frompotash,theashesofplants,fromwhich
itsnameisderived.
sodiumchannelwithadifferentmutation
Generalizedepilepsywithfebrileseizures
plustype1isaninheritedhumanepileptic
syndrome,associatedwitha
cysteinetotryptophan(C121W)mutationin
theextracellularimmunoglobulindomainof
theauxiliary1subunitofthevoltagegated
sodiumchannel.Themutationdisrupts1
function,buthowthisleadstoepilepsyisnot
understood.Inthisstudy,wemakeseveral
observationsthatmayberelevantfor
understandingwhythis1mutationresultsin
seizures.First,withelectrophysiological
recordingsfrommammaliancelllines,
coexpressingsodiumchannelsubunitsand
eitherwildtype1orC121W1,weshow
thatlossof1functionalmodulation,caused
bytheC121Wmutation
ToolsforTheBrainLab.