Chinese scientists have cracked the secret of venom.

Chinese scientists published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the 22nd, said they have cracked the secret of venom poisoning large prey.
this finding will help in the clinical treatment of severe symptoms such as heart failure caused by tick poisoning. Yang Shilong, co-author of the
paper and a co-author of the paper, told reporters: "The dragonfly is an excellent predator, a 3 grams of golden head can kill a mouse weighing 45 grams in 30 seconds, the rate of feeding is amazing."
but the molecular mechanism of the dragonfly's conquest of the great prey remains a mystery.
" team discovered the peptide toxin SsTx by tracking the highly lethal molecules in the venom.
this peptide molecule selectively blocks the KCNQ ion channel, which has important physiological functions.
animal experiments conducted in mice and monkeys, they found that the peptide toxin was consistent with the toxic symptoms caused by the venom, and after the venom was removed, the venom could no longer cause severe clinical symptoms such as vascular spasms, acute hypertension, and myocardial ischemia.
researchers believe that this peptide toxin in the venom causes brain, lung and heart dysfunction in the prey by blocking the ion channels, thus effectively preying on prey.
based on this molecular strategy, they used a drug called Retitabin in the disease animal model to treat heart failure caused by sting poisoning, with good results. Yang Shilong,
, said the study is not only of great significance for understanding the way poison-producing animals predate and the evolution strategy of venom molecules, but also of great guiding significance to the clinical treatment of poisoning. The co-authors of the
research paper also include Lai Wei, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, zhou Ming, and Professor Tian Changlin of the China University of Science and Technology.
next, they will focus on the effectiveness of Retitabin as a clinical drug in treating patients poisoned by the bite.
are widely distributed on land on all continents except Antarctica and can prey on small mammals, rodents, amphibian reptiles and other prey far greater than their own weight.
people who are bitten by a mole will experience symptoms such as pain, edema, inflammation, necrosis and subcutaneous bleeding, and severe clinical symptoms such as high blood pressure, myocardial ischemia, respiratory failure, coma and spasms, and may even die.
Source: Xinhua.com