Symbol Myotoxins InterPro IPR000881 SCOP 1h5o | Pfam PF00819 PROSITE PDOC00435 SUPERFAMILY 1h5o | |
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Myotoxins are small, basic peptides found in snake venoms, (e.g. rattlesnakes), and lizard venoms (e.g. mexican beaded lizard). This involves a non-enzymatic mechanism that leads to severe muscle necrosis. These peptides act very quickly, causing instantaneous paralysis to prevent prey from escaping and eventually death due to diaphragmactic paralysis.
The first myotoxin to be identified and isolated was crotamine, from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus, a tropical South American rattlesnake, by Brazilian scientist José Moura Gonçalves, in the 1950s. Its biological actions, molecular structure and gene responsible for its synthesis were all elucidated in the last two decades.
References
Myotoxin Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA