Being a scorpion fan and being a Scorpio, this totally pissed me off. The fight between the scorpion and the "rodent" results in the death of the unfortunate scorpion. We all know here that scorpions are "equipped with this powerful venom that could easily take the life of a human child/ elderly. On a side note, the deadliest scorpion is called the "deathstalker" which is responsible for 75% of the total scorpion kills. The deathstalker lives in Africa and in the middle east and has a yearly of 5000+ human kills. (GOOD JOB!). I personally saw this majestic scorpion in Lebanon while camping in the mountains. It got near my tent, fortunately I was able to maintain a safe distance.
Anyways, back to molecular Biology! Unfortunately the fight resulted in the death of the scorpion. Anyone wondered why? The fight was conducted between a grasshopper mouse and a bark scorpion whose stings are incredibly fatal for mice given their small size. "when humans get stung, they say the pain's like having a cigarette stubbed out on your skin, followed by hours of throbbing, the toxin should easily be powerful enough to kill a rodent. The rodent viciously eats the scorpion and when it gets stung, it gets stung a lot. It barely seems to notice" Now the why part. We all know that venom or poison usually activates many pain neurons. Rodentwise, the venom attach to a protein called NAV.1.7 which is found on the surface of pain-sensing nerves cells. When the poison sticks to NAV.1.7, The protein changes its confirmation and acts like a doorway for sodium ions to flow in the neuron which cause the nerve to fire! (then we say Ouch, arghh or start to curse!). But what happens with this specific rodent? Another protein called NAV.1.8 (I see no creativity in proteins' naming here!) attach to venom (which is already attached to NAV.1.7) and this prevents the sodium from flowing in. It blocks the door!
To read more and view the deadly fight click below:
Interesting! I wonder if this NAV.1.8 protein can be isolated and used in veterinarian practices to help other small animals in the chance they get stung by a scorpion. Most scorpions aren't venomous to bring down a person, but smaller mammals are at risk still. Having more options to help save them would be a good thing.
ReplyDeleteHummm, Lindsay. sounds a great idea. I don't know why you guys are worried about the "other" animals. I want the scorpion to WIN! this is how things should be :P On the "non-sarcastic" and "professional" I have to agree with you... Maybe not! HA!
DeleteBeing a fellow Scorpio I agree with you, it's kind of embarrassing to be beat by a mouse. That being said it is pretty cool how such a small animal can survive a sting that should kill it. Maybe researchers can find away to apply this to other animals like Lindsay said.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Scorpio, we shall destroy this filthy mouse soon!
DeleteI think mice downloaded the updated version of NAV from 1.7 to 1.8 haha. But for real that seems genious. So I realize that the pain is blocked, but isn't the deadly affect of the venom still there? This study leads me to believe that humans don't necessarily die from poison, but from "pain shock", which I just named (probably already given a different name) from the severe pain.
ReplyDeleteJohn, as far as I know venoms are classified into two major categories: Neuro-toxic and Heamo-toxic. Neurotoxicity deals with neurons obviously and leads to paralysis. we all know that neurons control all our muscles ( smooth, skeletal and cardiac). Any disfunction or alteration of neuron activity could lead to devastating consequences (the worst is the parasympathetic and sympathetic controlling the heart). So pain and the deadly part of the venom are governed by neurons. The same proteins deals with BOTH kinds of neurons. I don't think anyone could die from pain. Pain is a feeling associate with a malfunction which is in this case the paralysis of all muscle including our heart...
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