Apamin 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 acids are involved in the binding of apamin to the Ca-activated K channel. Due to its specificity for SK channels, apamin is used as a drug in biomedical research to study the electrical properties of SK channels and their role in the
Venom optimization hypothesis Venom optimization hypothesis Venom optimization hypothesis, also known as venom metering, is a biological hypothesis which postulates that venomous animals have physiological control over their production and use of venoms. It explains the economic use of venom because venom is a metabolically expensive product, and that there is a biological mechanism for controlling their specific use. The hypothetical concept was proposed by Esther Wigger, Lucia Kuhn-Nentwig, and Wolfgang Nentwig of the Zoological Institute at the University of Bern, Switzerland, in 2002. A number of venomous animals have been experimentally found to regulate the amount of venom they use during predation