Apamin therapeutic effect on Parkinson's disease. Dopamine, which is depleted in this disease, will be released from midbrain dopaminergic neurons when these SK channels are inhibited. SK channels have also been proposed as targets for the treatment of epilepsy, emotional disorders and schizophrenia. Apamin Apamin is an 18 amino acid peptide neurotoxin found in apitoxin (bee venom). Dry bee venom consists of 2–3% of apamin. Apamin selectively blocks SK channels, a type of Ca-activated K channel expressed in the central nervous system. Toxicity is caused by only a few amino acids, these are cysteine, lysine, arginine, arginine and histidine. These amino
Evolution of snake venom in several lineages, proteins that pre-digest prey, and a method to track down prey after a bite. These various adaptations of venom have also led to considerable debate about the definition of venom and venomous snakes. The idea that venom had a single evolutionary origin has been called into question by a 2015 study, which found that venom proteins had homologs in many other tissues in the Burmese python. The study therefore suggested that venom had evolved independently in a number of snake lineages. The origin of venom is thought to have provided the catalyst for the rapid diversification of